


Ice Melts When Heated

by flavourless_fiction



Category: Batman - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Skating, Banter, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Enemies is a slight overstatement tho, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, M/M, Rating May Change, Rivals, Slow Burn, Time Skips, figure skating
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-01-13
Updated: 2019-05-26
Packaged: 2019-10-09 10:51:26
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 47,246
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17405549
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/flavourless_fiction/pseuds/flavourless_fiction
Summary: Tim never thought he'd go to Jason Todd of all people for help, for a new coach, but when Bruce failed him for the last time he had to get away, had to open himself up to a new approach. Even if it meant turning to the guy who punched him before competition one day. He just hoped it would save his career rather than becoming another washed up skater who had more coaching scandals than medals.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Uploading on Sundays

Three quarters of an hour, that’s how long he had before the ice resurfacing, an hour and five minutes until the warm up. Skating fourth in the group. He just needed to remain relaxed. What was it that Bruce always said? The world could tell whether he was going to win or not the second before his music started, in that moment he either switched on or fizzled out.

He just needed to warm up properly, stretched for the spins and strong for the jumps. The short program had been a hard fight but he’d won it. Some would say convincingly, the scores would say as much but half way through Tim wouldn’t have agreed, everything had just felt…. Difficult. Like he was running out of energy in the last sixty seconds of a program that was barely two minutes long.

In truth, he’d slept poorly the night before and fatigue might have just caught him at the worst possible time. Today that wasn’t an issue but he certainly couldn’t focus, the eyes burning into the back of his jacket, reporters who he couldn’t speak to wanting some sort of confirmation of arrogance that was synonymous with the students of Bruce Wayne. Arrogance that was largely perception. A fifteen-year-old hardly knew how to be arrogant, they merely said what was on their mind and that was why it had been a safe bet for Tim to rarely speak to the press, he allowed Bruce or Dick to speak for him, tolerated that everyone simply thought he was shy and awkward, all that mattered was he skated well. He’d rather be seen as an awkward kid than a cocky asshole, it meant he wasn’t surrounded by drama.

Drama always followed Bruce Wayne though and being the new ‘golden child’ meant drama would follow him too. He just didn’t expect it to come from the guy he looked up to when they were both at the same rink.

At nineteen Jason Todd was far more intimidating than he’d been at fourteen, he’d finished growing what with being out due to injury over the past couple of years, an injury that hardened him and certainly seemed to make him resent anyone affiliated with Wayne. In truth Tim should have expected some sort of confrontation, he might only be a junior but it was his last season before moving up to seniors, or so Bruce had said. But being pulled into the bathroom without warning just thirty minutes before the junior pairs competition completed wasn’t what he’d expected.

Fifty-five minutes and he’d have to be warming up, a lot could happen in fifty-five minutes, he needed to get to work on his skates in at least forty-five.

He supposed he should consider himself lucky that Bruce followed them into the bathroom so Jason couldn’t do more than threaten him. “You’re really showing him off like a little robot aren’t you, Bruce?” So, Jason had no interest in him, merely needed to bait Bruce into some sort of a fight. It didn’t take much to wriggle out of his arms, Jason was stronger but Tim was smaller and was more invested in getting out of his grip than Jason was in keeping a hold of him. “Junior World Champ at fourteen but you weren’t allowed to move up because he didn’t have another junior in the wings?”

Well maybe some of his vitriol was meant to be for him. He hadn’t been allowed to move up to seniors due to ages anyway, although he doubted Jason knew when his birthday was. “Jason, we have better things to do rather than listen to you.” Bruce almost sounded bored, like it wasn’t concerning in any way that he was being ranted at by another skater, one that was likely feeling pretty resentful right now.

It was no secret that Jason thought Bruce ruined his career, he’d said it several times online and in interviews. That didn’t give it any real factual basis. It wasn’t just the coach’s fault if the skater got injured. “Your obsession with black haired blue eyed male skaters really is interesting Bruce, Talia told me you always secretly wished you could have been a singles skater, trying to live through all of us? She told me lots of things about your personal lives too. Secrets you wouldn’t want getting out. Things that would destroy your career… relationships.”

“You always were so quick to anger. I have a skater to prepare and you have to compete in a few hours too, don’t you have better things to do right now?” How many times was Bruce going to use the words ‘better things to do’? He was going to sound like a broken record very quickly if he said it again.

He couldn’t help but bite his lip as he tried not to laugh, shrinking as Jason’s eyes went back to him. “Everyone knows you’re prone to fuck ups Drake, second in an event that should have been a sure thing. Your score isn’t unbeatable even though you seem to think you’re untouchable.” Had the situation been less tense Tim would have been delighted that Jason had even noticed his career, although he could sense he was just watching out of spite, hoping that he as Bruce’s student failed.

“I know, we’re all human, that doesn’t mean I’m not in a better place than you were at my age.” That quiver in Jason’s lip made it worth it, he didn’t want to speak up but Bruce wasn’t exactly coming to his defence and stating facts might rattle Jason rather than staying silent and making him think he was right. People weren’t attempting the jumps he now did when Jason was his age, four years is a long time in the skating world.

There were plenty of mind games played but typically they weren’t between people in completely different divisions. He was merely collateral, which meant he had to stick up for himself at some point. “You’re a little shit you know that Timmy?” Jason said, the smirk more dangerous than the glares he’d been getting previously, Bruce not stepping between them even though Jason advanced, if he tried anything Jason would end up suspended because it would be the word of two against one, it just depended on what Jason tried.

The collar of his team jacket was grabbed, pulling him closer as Jason loomed over him. “Enough Jason, he’s a kid.” He always hated that being thrown around, not only did he look younger than he was but people treated him as such, sometimes it worked in his favour but it still wasn’t palatable by any means.

“You don’t get to dictate what’s enough anymore.” Neither one of them could see the punch coming, one to the side before being shoved away. He supposed he should be thankful for not getting punched in the face. “Enjoy your last year of juniors Timmy, I’ll make sure it’s a lot worse once you’re a senior.”

Threats weren’t exactly something most skaters threw around so casually, USFSA wasn’t forgiving and ISU liked to pretend it wasn’t as corrupt as it was. Which meant any scandal would be dealt with quickly, a villain would be punished and never given the chance to be competitive again. It wasn’t fair but it was true. “Are you okay?” A firm hand to his back, making Tim stand straighter as he rubbed his side.

“Yeah. I didn’t really know what to expect when he grabbed me.” His voice was soft, if people overheard then a scandal would be caused before anyone official got to it. “I just want to finish getting ready.” He could tell he sounded unnerved, that he’d lost this focus. That was something he needed to fix and quickly.

It wasn’t a stupid pride thing. He genuinely wanted to win and if he wanted to do that he couldn’t be focused on Jason threatening him. “I’m going to speak to an official so this can be handled appropriately.”

“No… It’s okay, he barely got me and I don’t think it was planned, he just doesn’t know how to deal with you being around. Don’t tell people.” Tim didn’t know if he sounded like he was pleading, but he’d said enough to convince Bruce, or at least make Bruce lie to his face for the time being.

He wasn’t being magnanimous, Tim wasn’t going to pretend he was fine, but the worst thing right now would be to draw attention to it. He didn’t want this to follow him and the best way to stop that from happening was to let Jason get away with it. To beat him when they met in the future.

* * *

 

How many times was he going to have to go over this spin? The positions were there but he couldn’t get the rotations in the Biellman which he was having to wind up too much as he switched feet for the back spin rather than just having to change feet in a natural manner. It didn’t help that his left hamstring had been nagging him for days.

He could see people watching him, fans with their cameras trained watching him do the same element over and over again. People could probably see the frustration written all over his face. Everyone said he read like a book, they said that not knowing that he kept most of what he thought hidden well away. At least Dick said he was harder to read. He still thought it was strange that at sixteen he didn’t talk to anyone properly. Joked about how it had gotten past the point of being endearing but at least Bruce seemed to like it.

Bruce just wanted his skaters to be obedient and he definitely got that with Tim. Unzipping his jacket he moved over to the boards, stopping by Bruce who wore the same look he always did when he wasn’t pleased with him. It allowed Tim the time to prepare for whatever was bound to come out of his mouth. “Don’t do the Biellman, change it to a layback attitude spin that way you get the rotations and you don’t end up hurting your hamstring further.”

He took the bottle of water that was offered to him, glancing to see what other coaches were near enough to him. Talia and Jason were certainly within earshot and Oliver might not have been close enough to hear but could read what was going on, could tell his student that Tim was potentially carrying an injury. “In practice or during the event?”

“Both.” He felt like he was choking on the water, covering his mouth with the back of his hand as he coughed.

“If I do that I could lose a level and would definitely lose GOE for using a more basic variation. I can’t lose the points like that when with clean skates it’s going to be close.” It wasn’t the first time he’d disagreed with Bruce, he was obedient but he hadn’t ever been a doormat. If he didn’t agree he’d say something, to at least better understand Bruce’s point of view. He didn’t speak out in front of others all that often though.

Bruce didn’t want to have a bar of it though, his expression shifting from displeased to annoyed. “Tim, it’s not all about winning, we’ll get the places for next season, this is about you not getting injured and being out for a long period of time.” It was always about preserving injuries.

He didn’t agree though. “This is Worlds. Aside from the Olympics there’s no time that’s more important than now to win. If I can’t skate for a few weeks as a result well then good thing there’s no competitions for five months. They didn’t put me on the team this year because they thought I was too young and wanted someone with Olympic experience, if I don’t win or at least medal it will prove them right.”

“You didn’t make the team because there were only two places available and despite finishing second at nationals you didn’t have the points behind you. Do the spin I’m telling you to do, stop playing a numbers game, everyone has to skate clean including you for that scenario to work.” He hated when Bruce spoke like that, menacing, controlling, it told him that he was done talking even though Tim still had plenty more to way.

It didn’t help that the person he was actually concerned about beating was a few feet away clearly listening in to every word they were saying. “Bruce, I want to win. Shouldn’t I be putting my best foot forward?”

Bruce took the now empty water bottle as he set it down on the barrier, placing his skate guards down turn. “Do whatever you want Tim.” That wasn’t a good sign, Bruce stepping away as Tim still stood there, not missing the snickering that came from Jason’s direction. For all the threats, he’d made last year nothing had come from them. Although Tim hadn’t even come close to beating him when they’d gone head to head, Jason had won nationals by a twenty-point margin whilst only three points had separated Tim and the third-place skater.

Jason didn’t need to use any sort of intimidating tactics because he’d quickly become untouchable in the last year.

It was aggravating to say the least and Bruce didn’t seem to care, didn’t want him to beat Jason it felt like. It wasn’t unfair to say Bruce had been distracted with his son though. He had many other students and Tim wasn’t jealous, it was just frustrating feeling like he was going to be labelled as washed up because his coach was distracted.

“You have more spark than you let on, maybe you’re more than just a girly skater who has a few big jumps.” Now that was arrogant, Jason knew nothing about him aside from a few protocol sheets and opinions online.

Finally shedding his jacket and draping it over the barrier Tim bit his lip, trying to keep himself from saying something. It was all a mind game, to make him go against what Bruce was saying, he just needed to shut out Jason entirely, in three days the season would be over entirely and if he disobeyed Bruce he’d end up having hell to pay. “I don’t care if I look more graceful than most guys, maybe you should work on how heavy footed you are on your combination jumps.” Bruce would definitely reprimand him for playing into that later, but for once he needed to get the last word in and whilst Jason didn’t look like he was at a loss for words, he was definitely giving him the opportunity to skate away from him.

 

* * *

 

Timothy Drake – USA

TES: 106.39 PCS: 92.58 Deduction: 0.00

FS: 198.97

Second

Combined Total: 302.68

Second.

He did what he was told and he was proven right. Jason had a deduction and he was still in second with one skater to go, and a level 3 on his combination spin is what did it. Yet he had to smile and appear like he was happy with losing, happy with failing to get a gold medal in a competition that wasn’t in the Grand Prix circuit. There was less than a point in it. He didn’t skate perfectly, but had he just gone with his gut rather than with Bruce’s word he’d be sitting in first right now.

_ Smile. You can’t look ungrateful.  _ It sucked! As soon as eyes weren’t on him he could show how he felt but for now he had to pretend like he was okay with another silver medal for the year. He was sure in time he’d be happy with it but right now he wanted to be annoyed as any other teenager would be when they’d let an opportunity slip because of the words of an adult around them.

Professional athletes didn’t get to behave like teenagers though, not in public at least.

There was a time and a place for being upset and this wasn’t it. He stood from the kiss and cry, going to the ‘Green Room’ whilst Bruce shuffled over to the press, likely making comments about how he’s very proud of his scores even though he can read it all over Bruce’s face that he’s annoyed as well. Likely not only because he was proven wrong but because it was so close. If it was even a few more points he wouldn’t have had to think about the what ifs, because he wouldn’t have been able to make up the difference.

Despite how much he wanted to say ‘I told you so’ he never would. The satisfaction wouldn’t be worth it. Stepping over the tucked in feet of one person he barely looked at the hand that was offered to him for a high five, accepting it before taking a seat, trying hard not to make a face when he realised that the hand had come from Jason. He was the last person he wanted some congratulations from.

Second wasn’t something you threw a party for.

At least there was only five minutes or so before he knew whether he’d finish the year as nothing more than a second-place skater or if the man on the ice would exceed all expectations and go to second or first from sixth. Losing to more than just Jason would be less irritating. 302.68 was a perfectly respectable score, a season’s best and a lot of events he would have won with a score like that. It didn’t make it any easier to stomach.

“Well that’s three spots without a doubt. Although we knew that would happen, didn’t we?” Why was Jason bothering to talk? He would have thought the fact that Tim actively avoided him at banquets and other events was enough to convince him to leave him alone. No one would want to hang around the person that had hit them and threatened them. They only had to play nice for cameras because they were from the same country. Speaking was completely unnecessary however.

* * *

 

 

**Talk About Predictable! Two Seasons in a row of the same Gold and Silver Medalists in Mens Singles**

_ By Iris West _

_ There aren’t always things in the figure skating world that are expected, however, it seems Jason Todd and Timothy Drake have become mainstays in first and second place, respectively, at major competitions for the past two years. Excluding the Olympics, Todd and Drake have landed on 6 international podiums together and have kept up the same placements at their national championships. _

_ At the end of last season it appeared the only thing holding back Drake from that Worlds title was a minor injury but Todd has proven to be unstoppable for another year, often bulldozing any competition with his technical programs, that seem to be far more his style than when he was a student of Bruce Wayne. _

_ It’s a rivalry that excites myself, as Drake almost consistently leading after the short always makes me wonder what is going to be pulled out in the free program for Todd to secure that win. Both skaters have declined to comment on their personal opinions on their rivalry, but some fans have been lead to believe that the two have a great deal of animosity between them, be it because Drake is now Bruce Wayne’s shining star or because of a fractured relationship from when they were both training at Wayne’s rink. _

_ Needless to say all of this is speculation and we shouldn’t be forcing rumours of a bitter rivalry unnecessarily, despite being competitors many skaters do get along quite well, however, that isn’t to say that these two are friends. But it’s still thrilling to watch them go head to head several times a year. _

* * *

 

Apparently, it would take over four hours to get into Boston, which meant most people would be sleeping. Last night had been late for many of them and whilst the show had been a success there were enough people on the bus running on little to no sleep at all half a dozen people were asleep the moment they left New York.

Aside from a few snores it was mostly quiet, Tim resting his back against the window, his feet on the free seat as he read as a book and listened to music with one headphone in. God, he could hear Steph and Connor a few rows behind him laughing every now and then, at least they weren’t being too loud, Steph’s laugh really did carry when it wanted to.

In a way, their noise cut through the awkward silence between snores. It was probably good Dick was asleep otherwise there would be someone that was just that little bit too loud. He had no idea what they all went out and did last night but the way they were talking in the warm up it sounded like they were having a great time, he’d just hit a wall so early that he missed out on the festivities something he definitely couldn’t afford to do in a few weeks’ time, he’d be shamed for being boring on his birthday of all nights.

He rested his head back against the window as he paused from his book, unable to focus and as it got darker it was becoming harder to read, he could always mess around on his laptop and edit photos for a few hours but then once it ran out of charge he’d be unbelievably bored. If he injected himself into any of the conversations it would certainly feel awkward.

There wasn’t an option anyway, Tim’s body tensing as he felt his feet being lifted someone sitting his feet in their lap. He really hoped that it was Tam or Bart, but the latter was sleeping and Tam had mentioned something about doing an essay for her summer class she was taking. When he did look at who had taken his spare seat he couldn’t help but scowl. “What do you want?” He whispered, if looks could kill Jason wouldn’t be dead but he’d certainly have a few injuries.

“I’m bored and your pals back there are way too close to making out so I need someone to distract me.” If it was anyone else he would have been fine with it, would have just cracked a few jokes and kept doing his own thing. Jason, he wasn’t too comfortable being around.

The punch might have been water under the bridge at this point. But that didn’t mean he wanted to be friendly with Jason, he’d calmed down, sure, but Jason was the same competitor, always seeming to find ways to trip him up, even with false niceties. “Go watch something on your phone.”

“Phone’s dead.”

“Go wake up Dick I’m sure he’ll play with you.”

“Kinky.”

Tim rolled his eyes, shifting in the seat so that his feet touched the ground and he was facing forward, not wanting to indulge Jason too much. “I don’t want to be friends with you Jason and if we weren’t both competing on the circuit I wouldn’t ever have to talk to you.” He uttered, if he could kick the other off the seat without causing a commotion he would, however, if Jason suddenly hit the isle floor it would certainly draw attention and possibly wake up a few of the lighter sleepers.

“You’re colder than you let on Timmy.” Jason teased, why was he so insistent? They didn’t need to be friends or talk to each other, plenty of people barely spoke unless they needed to and none of them had ever thrown punches.

“I feel like you’re showing me exactly why you’re perpetually single.” Tim sighed, giving up on the book, Jason wasn’t going to leave him alone and if he was going to keep talking Tim wasn’t going to be able to focus on it anyway.

Jason only chuckled, pinching Tim’s cheek as though he was a kid who’d done a cutesy dance. “I don’t see anyone, male or female ever hanging off of your arm. When I was seventeen I was trying to get with anyone I could.” He wouldn’t have reacted with anything more than another frown but Jason’s hand patted his thigh and he couldn’t help but shift away, staring at him with wide eyes. “You’re seventeen, relax, I wouldn’t dare.”

“Good, because I wouldn’t ever look in your direction.”

“To busy lusting after Conner Kent?”

“I’m not gay, Jason.”

“I heard about you getting caught with that guy at the rink, though, so I’m just throwing around a couple of suggestions.”

Where had he heard that from? He didn’t think that was a rumour that had gotten out, well not a rumour considering there was truth behind it. However, he didn’t like the idea of it getting through everyone, he would have thought what happened at the rink stayed there considering it was his own private information. “I’m not interested, I’d rather focus on what’s important.”

“Important…” Jason started, quickly closing his mouth when Tim looked away. “You can’t only have skating in your life, it’s going to destroy you the first time something goes wrong.”

He tried to stay silent, hold his tongue even though he didn’t want this conversation, if it was just going to be a critique about his dating life or skating career then he wasn’t interested in it for a moment. “Are you speaking from past experience?” He wanted to hurt him.

To throw it in his face that Jason had been five times worse than he was and he’d nearly lost skating entirely. At least Tim had made it through Juniors and a few seasons of seniors with nothing more than a few sprains or strains. “Yes, Tim there’s nothing wrong with having hobbies outside of skating, even if said hobby is dating.”

Life advice from one Jason Todd, it wasn’t something that he’d ever thought he’d have the honour of having the pleasure of receiving. He never wanted nor needed to get it again. “Stop.” He groaned, trying not to make a face. “I have hobbies, just because I don’t get guided around by my dick like other people.”

“Subtle.”

He hadn’t even been trying to make a comment about Jason, just speaking in general terms but it had hit enough of a nerve. “Why do you care so much if I’m dating?”

“Because you’re a good  _ kid _ and you seem to hang out just by yourself when both Steph and Conner are around.”

“No one wants to be a third wheel, and I hang out with other people Tam, Dick when you’re not hogging him, Cass and Bart when they are doing shows.” He said softly, he could suppose that it did seem like he just kept to himself this year at least. “Also, I’m not a kid.”

He needed an excuse to get out of this conversation, he might not have liked Jason but something just rubbed him the wrong way about being referred to as a kid. He was days away from turning eighteen, most didn’t treat him like a kid anymore but Jason seemed pretty intent on bringing his age into the matter. “You’re a kid and you should be doing stuff that high school aged kids are doing.”

That was enough, he couldn’t grab all of his things but he could certainly move and sit somewhere else. The only issue was he had to climb over Jason. It was easier said than done, his book and phone in one hand and the other grabbing Jason’s shoulder, pushing him into the back of the chair as he climbed over him. It was almost satisfying seeing Jason look completely taken aback, not having any idea what to do. If he could take a picture of that face right now he would.

He made a b-line towards the back of the bus, Tam’s face brightening when she saw him, moving her laptop and books off of the spare seat beside her. Tim didn’t even have to ask and she already made room for him. “You look irritated.” She said as he sat, by contrast she looked relieved to be pulled away from her assignment.

“Irritated isn’t the right word but I don’t know how to describe how I feel.” He said, slumping into the seat, pinching the bridge of his nose. “I don’t understand how Jason’s forced attempts at trying to be nice when he was such an asshole to me when he came back to compete.”

Tam smiled, as though she knew more than he did. “I think he was redirecting a lot of anger towards you for a while, probably feels guilty, probably listened to Dick talk about how great you are and wanted to take some advice on board.”

“Please, this is Jason Todd we’re talking about, he and Bruce used to argue all the time when he didn’t like the advice he was given, it’s probably just a carefully laid trap.”

“True, but he’s also mellowed out a lot. Although I don’t have the same history as you and I don’t get attacked from multiple angles like you do.” Tim Raised an eyebrow, so she was talking about Damian, he didn’t even understand what he’d done there but it felt similar to Jason’s problem with him originally, he was taking Bruce’s attention and he didn’t like it. Jason had just been more discrete in his hatred.

Tim sighed, resting his head on Tam’s shoulder. “I should have just sat beside you and been a distraction for the whole ride.”

“I’m not Conner, I wouldn’t spend the whole ride making out with you.”

“I’m not into Conner, despite what everyone thinks and he’s dating Steph, which very much proves he has a type.”

“I was more saying in our friendship you’re definitely the Steph.”

He lifted his head, almost squinting as he stared at Tam, who remarkably managed to keep a straight face, whilst even he was trying not to laugh. “I don’t know how to feel about you saying that, next time you are bored and want me to come to your room perhaps I’ll just ignore you.”

“I highly doubt that, you like people seeing you for you too much.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This Chapter is more of a prelude than anything else, hence three years being covered in the first chapter alone. From here on out the time skips will be a lot shorter and far less frequent.  
> Scene one is December of season one, one season before the Olympics  
> Scene two and three are early April over a year later, olympic season but at the World championships  
> The article is a year later  
> Scene 4 is early July during the off season the next season will be two years prior to the next Olympics.


	2. Chapter 2

“You’re tripping on your twizzles in the step sequence, it’s going to sacrifice a level or perhaps even two.” Tim didn’t know why he was bothering to offer advice, but standing there, fiddling with the cap of his water bottle he couldn’t resist trying to say something. “If you can keep a strong edge on the rotations, hoping out of them with a half split jump or just anything that is under a half turn will work with your music to cover the issue and save the level defending on the technical panel.”

It was advice that Dick had given him before, in truth he’d been less experienced and didn’t have fantastic control of his limbs after a growth spurt at thirteen. He’d wanted and appreciated the advice, he hoped Damian would at least take it on board even if he didn’t say anything. It was useless to hope that Damian would be anything less than rude, however. “I don’t need help from a fairy like you.”

Fairy. A nicer word than what could have been said but it still had the same effect. He didn’t even know how he had learnt so many dated slurs. “It’s just some advice, if Dick gave it to you, you’d listen.” He wanted to snap at the other but it was better to just rise above it, to avoid getting mad and starting unnecessary bullshit.

He was better off getting back to practice, to working on his axel combination. If he wanted the 3A4T by the beginning of next season he couldn’t wait until the season slowed down. He was the national champion now, that meant he had more to prove. That his season would continue on the up and up rather than giving naysayers the opportunity to say he was victorious because Jason wasn’t at nationals. “You are a threat! My competition! Father should have thrown you out the moment you got caught fornicating with that guy in the changing room.”

Where had he gotten that from? It wasn’t sex, it had been just a kiss, with a friend from his old school. It had barely been a kiss and it wouldn’t have grown into anything more because they’d just been joking around. Tim opened his mouth to say something, but shut it quickly, rise above… he needed to just focus on himself rather than letting Damian constantly get under his skin. For someone that was in a sport that had plenty of queer people, Damian certainly had an old fashioned attitude.

Leaning over the barrier he put his water bottle on the ground, not even sparing a glance at Damian. He had better things to do than have an argument over the fact that Damian was an asshole to him almost constantly. He really could make a list of all the horrible things that had come out of Damian’s mouth  about him but it would already fill up a notebook or three and he’d only been around for eighteen months.

He just needed to focus on his skating, interpersonal relationships weren’t as important, especially not during this part of the season. They might not be direct opponents but Damian was merely trying to get into his head. Dick would pull him into line if it got too out of hand, he’d promised him as much.

All Tim needed to do right now was skate and come off the ice not wanting to throw it all away. If Bruce wanted to meet with him for a talk he needed to go in there with his head screwed on right, if he didn’t then the moment Bruce gave him whatever bad news he had in store for him, well, he’d be less inclined to try and argue with Bruce.

Stepping onto the left forward outside edge didn’t quite feel right, it was too shallow but before he even had the chance to reconsider he’d gone through with the jump. At least he was able to open his body in time to only single it, not even attempting to tack the planned jump on at the end. He’d just have to do it again, and again, and again, if needs be.

Was it healthy? No. He knew that, but the jump didn’t have to be perfect but he had to make a genuine attempt at it.

Eight, it took eight jumping passes for him to hit the rotations. Not the end of the world considering he was working up to them. The last jump wasn’t stellar, it didn’t feel natural and the turn out of the jump would cost him marks for the grade of execution but that didn’t matter right now. It could definitely get there eventually, but it would require further work. He stood there, hands on hips, looking down at the pothole he’d put in the ice. It wasn’t so sloppy normally. “Your axel looks really good but the toe loop looks like you’re fighting for the rotations.” Tim glanced up, biting his lip and nodding slowly. It was definitely a fight for the rotations. Dick was all smiles, he was always that way, especially when he was in coach/choreographer mode, it was what made him so good with the children at the rink.

“It needs more speed and a better snap down, it could be worse I know.”

“I saw you and Damian talking, are you okay?” Already changing the topic, which meant he either didn’t actually want to talk about the jumps in the first place or he was moving through topics quickly because he didn’t have a lot of time. Sparing a glance at the clock up on the wall it was definitely the latter, Bruce had wanted him once he was off the ice and they were due for a resurface in less than five minutes.

They could at least skate around for a few minutes. “I’m not going to sugar coat it, I hate him.”

“I know, you’ve said that before.”

“Can’t he play nice for just a minute or two?”

“He’s fine with me but I think think he sees you as a threat.” That was quite clear, it was no secret that he thought he was a threat. Damian regularly said it. “Do you know what B wants with you?”

Tim sighed, playing with the zipper of his jacket. “I have an idea, I’m pretty sure it’s about Four Continents.” Dick stopped first, looking about as nervous as Tim felt. Did he know something more than him?

“Do you want me to be there, I’ll make Bruce feel bad if he lets you down again.” Well he knew something, perhaps not everything, but he must have had a good enough idea.

“It’s okay. Maybe he’ll apologise about Damian trashing me after nationals.” A pipe dream. Not once had Bruce apologised or pulled Damian into line, largely because he didn’t see the worst of it, well at least what was directly said to Tim. Still, Bruce was Damian’s father, he should have at least tried to discipline him in some way shape or form regarding their issues.

Dick didn’t look impressed, the both of them sighing as the gates were opened, the warning for them to get off the ice. “Doubt it. You know how Bruce is, if he thinks it will cause drama he’ll do it in private and unless he’s forcing Damian to apologise he’d have said it when he asked for the meeting.”

“You’re not wrong.” Tim was the first to move, picking up his guards from the barrier, following Dick around the rink to where the other’s guards were. God he could see Bruce looking down at them from one of the upstairs windows, his gaze commanding him to hurry it up. “I gotta go, if I make him wait it’s only going to make him less delicate.”

Dick waved him off, Tim putting his guards on before making his way to Bruce’s office, picking up his water bottle and bag along the way. He had off ice work to do but it didn’t have to be at the rink, he easily would be able to head home and then go to the gym from there, the facilities superior in some ways, not to mention no one knew him there, if people talked about him it wasn’t based upon knowing him or rumours they’d heard, it came from superficial views, because he looked too small to be doing weights, he’d definitely heard the word twink thrown around a time or two before but there was no obviously malicious tone.

Bruce had already moved back into his office by the time he got upstairs, knocking on the wall by the door frame. “Tim, take a seat.” Bruce sounded detached, in truth he always did but the pit in his stomach screamed that it was bad news, that he wasn’t going to like anything about this.

“Is this about what happened after nationals?” He should have asked Dick to come up here with him, at least then he’d have someone to tell Bruce he was wrong if something crazy came out of his coach’s mouth.

“No, that’s of no consequence.” That was rich, the quote had been discussed at length, it had added fuel to the flames that was Tim being undeserving of victory, Damian didn’t even compete for USFSA but it didn’t stop him from having opinions. “I’m going to get to the point, there’s no use in wasting time, you’ve got a lot to do before getting on the flight. I on the other hand will not be travelling with you.”

“Are you coming a day late?” Not the end of the world, mistakes were made and there had been a lot going on lately.

“No, I will not be travelling to Shanghai, period, this week.” That was a problem.

He in no way saw that one coming. “What?” Tim sat back in the chair, trying to shrink into the furniture.

“Damian, will be competing at the Bavarian Open and he needs his coach with him.” Bruce stated matter of factly.

“But… wait, what, you’re going to another competition?”

“I have more than one student Tim, you aren’t my only priority.”

He’d heard that phrase before, the last time Bruce sent him to a competition by himself, a competition he should have had at least a thirty-point spread on his opponents, he’d won by just a few points but it hadn’t been pretty. “Exactly, you have more than one student.” He was always going to choose Damian, Ra’s had told him as much when he’d tried to convince him to move.

“Tim, I wouldn’t be sending you there alone if I didn’t think you were able to win it without me.” Bullshit. There was no way Bruce thought he could win this without him.

“Alone?” He felt sick, but he needed answers, needed to at least have Bruce hear his opinions, whether he listened or not. “You can’t send me there without anyone.”

“You’ll have a federation representative as a caretaker, however, I don’t believe Dick has a visa for China at present if he can get one in time he can join you.” A caretaker wasn’t a coach, it was a stranger who had a knowledge of record and little else.

The idea that Dick could possibly get a visa on such short notice was absurd, they were well connected and USFSA had influence with embassies but it far too late. “I leave tomorrow night, he can’t get one that fast.” _Nothing he said was going to matter._ “B, I don’t think I can do this without a coach that I trust. Why can’t Dick go to Germany, he was in Europe just a few weeks ago for one of the junior girls?”

“Because Damian needs _me_.” Damian, it was an excuse, he didn’t need Bruce at every moment in his career, Bruce was just trying to make up for lost time.

“I _need_ you.” He sounded so small, fighting back an obvious display of emotion, being emotional wouldn’t get through to him. Nothing would. He just had to say everything he possibly could. “Bruce, I’m drowning at the moment, listening to his constant sniping, everyone else saying I can’t win with Jason around and it’s true. I want to prove that I’m a winner, but I can’t go to a major competition without a coach.”

“If you don’t think you’re able to succeed  then you won’t be able to.” Tim lowered his eyes, his right knee bouncing, an all too obvious sign of anxiety.

“Do you care?”

“Of course, but things need to go a certain way.”

_He doesn’t care._

“Certain way?”

“You’ve become far too reliant on me, you need to prove you can be successful without someone telling you exactly what to do at all times.” Too reliant… Had Alfred and Dick not recommended him to Bruce after Jason’s injury because he was obedient, because he listened to everything a coach asked of him regardless of his own thoughts?

Had that not been a positive attribute? “I… all anyone has ever told me is, that’s exactly what you liked about me, that it’s what you wanted.”

“You’re young-”

Condescension, of course. “No. It’s fine I get it, you think my time is up. It’ll be fine, I’ll do my job. Another silver in the cabinet but at least we’ll probably have a podium sweep.” He could barely focus on the movements of his body, standing, and grabbing his things. This conversation was over, Bruce had no faith in him and was preparing for the next Olympic cycle. Not on the one that had been passed up because with a wild card like Jason in the mix, they needed someone they knew to be reliable.

“Tim...” Bruce didn’t even sound like he was trying to get him to stay, just speaking because it was the thing you were supposed to do. How did people think he was the robot when Bruce didn’t possess an ounce of empathy?

“I’ll see you when I get back.” At least he didn’t choke on the words, it was the coldest he’d sounded since walking into the office. He was out of there, stopping at the exit when he realised he still had his skates on, he could dry the blades in the car but he needed the skates off his feet before he stepped outside. Tim took a knee, wasting no time at undoing the knots and ripping the first skate off his foot, switching knees before getting to work on the other one. The girl at the counter who was surely unbelievably bored wearing a sympathetic look. She might not have known why he was upset but she probably knew the struggle of wanting to get out of here as quickly as possible.

Tim didn’t bother taking his shoes out or stuffing the skates into his bag, his car was parked not fifty feet from the door, he could carry the skates. It hadn’t rained or snowed this week despite it being late January which meant he wouldn’t have to worry about his socks being soaked through.

What was he going to do?

Travelling wasn’t easy and having no coach to guide him, to make assessments about the ice or just give a perspective that wasn’t his own was going to be a huge problem.

Everyone liked to joke he was a robot because he hid his emotions and rarely spoke up but he was still a person, who needed some sort of team behind him if he had any hope of winning.

Bruce clearly thought he had no chance of winning, which meant he’d have to prove him wrong.

 

* * *

 

It hurt, every muscle in his body was in pain. Impact from hitting the boards not once but three times. All of his jumps were off, every single one of them and he’d fallen five times. That meant nine deductions. Why was the crowd even bothering to clap? Why throw gifts and flowers onto the ice when he hadn’t done the bare minimum to at least stay in it?

The USFSA rep handed over his guards, no words, nothing to encourage him, to make it feel better or worse. _There was his jacket, God, his hands were shaking way too much to zip it up._ Everyone’s eyes were on the video screen showing the replays. He couldn’t stomach glancing up, he could watch it later on. “These things happen.” Soft words from the rep that fell on deaf ears.

These things didn’t happen.

Not to him.

Not to any of Bruce Wayne’s students.

He couldn’t even stop the tears from spilling, holding a gloved hand over his mouth as he tried to at least suppress any kind of sobbing. This was going to look bad.

Timothy Drake – USA

TES: 61.53 PCS: 75.94 Deduction: -9.00

FS: 128.47

Twelfth

Combined Total: 230.22

Fifth

Fifth with five skaters to go.

Fifth and would likely be Tenth.

First to Tenth.

In one skate.

At the same competition.

Fuck.

He’d failed.

He was meant to win this.

He couldn’t breathe.

Why didn’t Bruce listen to him?

Why couldn’t Dick get through to him?

How was he supposed to stop crying?

Fuck.

The cameras weren’t on him anymore, but there were certainly hundreds of eyes. Likely waiting to see what he did next. A few tissues were handed to him, shaky breaths coming out but little going in. This was how he cried in his car after a particularly shitty practice, when nothing went right.

This was something he knew how to deal with alone. Not in an arena with thirteen thousand fans, some of whom probably wanted to see him fail to make way for their favourites.

He ran his hands through his hair as he lowered his head, shifting his feet to make sure the blade guards were on before rising. Making his way off the kiss and cry platform and away from the rink side. There was no way he was answering questions, he just had to move past the mixed zone as quickly as he could, waving off the one reporter that tried grabbing his attention. Everyone else seemed to get the message at least. Aside from national media outlets no one wanted to speak to a tenth placed skater. Even if they crashed and burned spectacularly.

He could just see the headline now; _‘Timothy Drake Chokes At 4 Continents Championship, Is It Time For Bruce Wayne To Focus On Younger and Better Talent?’_ That question probably didn’t need to be posed, Bruce was definitely focused more on Damian, this would probably confirm he was getting cast out to make way for Damian’s senior debut. Most coaches could focus on more than one student at a time but apparently not Bruce, at least not in this case.

It wasn’t until he rounded the second corner that he found the locker room, keeping his head down as he avoided the gaze of those that had chosen to get changed rather than watch the last group, not stopping until he reached a toilet stall. Flipping the lid down and sitting on it, hands working on his left boot laces first, eyes squeezed shut at he tried to calm himself down. If someone could see him they probably would think he was losing the plot blindly taking off each skate because he was trying to dull at least one sense.

Trying to stop himself from cracking even further.

He only opened his eyes at the sound of something sliding across the tiled floor, his small suitcase being pushed under the door, Tim taking the right skate off before leaning further forward and pulling the suitcase towards him. “We’ll meet tonight to discuss today, another representative can speak on your behalf, we understand you’re not comfortable with the press.” He couldn’t say that USFSA had done anything bad by him at this competition, they’d done everything right in taking care of the situation but it wasn’t the same as having a coach or just anyone that was in his ordinary support network.

“Thank you. I’ll… I will send a message when I get t-to the hotel and am cleaned up.” That sounded far better than he felt. He honestly thought no words would come out at all.

 

* * *

 

 

**What are Bruce Wayne’s Priorities?**

**Timothy Drake Coachless in Shanghai Finishing Tenth Whilst Coaching Son Damian Wayne Who Can’t Claim Victory in Oberstdorf**

_Vicki Vale_

_When Drake took gold at the U.S. National Championships just two weeks ago many of us thought he was a shoe in to take Four Continents gold this week. However, a cloud of doubt started to hover over him when he showed up with no coaching team whatsoever. After the short program he sat rather comfortably in first, six points ahead of his fellow American and rival Jason Todd, who had missed Nationals this year due to a stomach virus._

_However, upon arriving at the venue for the free program today it was obvious that there was something wrong. According to USFSA representatives there was no sign of injury or tightness the night before and they’d encountered no complaints from Drake. He’s allowed nerves to get in his way in the past but never quite to this extent._

_This is a skater that Bruce Wayne has said several times in the past that he, “...can tell from [Drakes] beginning pose whether he will skate clean or stumble over mistakes...” this comes from an understanding between a coach and skater with a relationship that’s been built over an extended period of time. Today it was obvious to everyone in the six minute warm up that Drake was not mentally there, the few jumps he did in the warm up resulting in falls, poor landings or being doubled or singled, this coupled with a frosty exchange between Drake and Todd that no one appeared to catch what was said, made it apparent to many that Drake needed Wayne at this particular competition._

_Despite earlier in the season missing Drake’s first competition for his son’s Junior Grand Prix event in Tallinn, the coaching relationship between Drake and B.Wayne was perceived to be business as usual, although what occurred behind the scenes is a mystery to many and underhanded comments seemingly to slight Drake from the younger Wayne to the press at different points in time now bring about the feeling that Wayne and his coaching team might not be producing the healthiest of environments for their students._

_The question in particular is what was going through Bruce Wayne’s mind that prompted him to leave his star skater, who appeared to be on the cusp of a breakthrough season. For a junior, blood or not. That is struggling to show he is anything more than a particularly proficient jumper, who lacks the musicality or dance based technique that has been synonymous with Wayne’s previous skaters such as Richard ‘Dick’ Grayson, Jason Todd and Cassandra Cain, the final who is still being coached by Wayne part time._

_Whilst it would be harsh to claim that the Bavarian Open at which D.Wayne competed at isn’t a competition worthy of Wayne’s time, the favouring of a junior merely trying to get additional senior competitions under his belt before Junior Worlds whilst his most senior men’s skater is being sent over to the final major competition prior to the World Championships is dumbfounding to say the least._

_There is something to say in Drake being a more experienced skater and not everyone will agree that Wayne’s priorities are out of sorts, but it is of the understanding that there were options for D.Wayne to be accompanied to Oberstdorf whilst B.Wayne was the only member of his coaching team, with the proper accreditation that could attend Four Continents this week due to Grayson, choreographer and close friend of Drake, confirming that he’d attempted to fill the void left by Wayne but had visa struggles due to the exceptionally late timing of the decision for Wayne to travel to Germany._

_This performance and the devastating reaction of Drake, which I for one won’t be able to shake any time soon, following his skate both in viewing the replays and receiving his scores, potentially could have been easily avoided if not for the errors in judgement and disorganisation of Wayne._

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I should note, Damian is a villain for a large part of this story.


	3. Chapter 3

Three sharp raps on his hotel room door. It couldn’t be the national representative who was effectively his handler for the comp. She’d left just ten minutes ago and they’d already selected him for the gala. God knows why. It wasn’t often that someone who finished in tenth got the opportunity to skate in the gala, especially when it wasn’t in their home country.

The knocking started again, Tim pushing himself up and slowly trudging towards the door. He was fortunate to end up with his own hotel room, although could one really be fortunate when they’d choked? Or when their coach picked a minor competition over the last major event before Worlds? “What can I-” He started to say, stopping dead in his tracks when he was met face to face with Jason. No, he did not need to spar with Jason right now, he’d had a bad enough day without listening to the winner gloat. “- fuck off.”

“Hey, wait!” Jason’s foot got caught in the door frame, preventing him from shutting the door in his face. He couldn’t just slam it on the foot either, it would look like he was attempting to take out his competition. “I know you don’t want anything to do with me right now but you can’t be alone after something like that.”

“Go away, Jason.”

“Come out with me, we’ll have some drinks and you can think about anything other than that skate.”

Of course, his idea of a good time was going out and getting drunk. Forgetting about the skate and Bruce was certainly a good idea but that didn’t mean it was the right thing to do, they had practice for the gala tomorrow, as well as the actual performance and showing up with a hangover wasn’t going to make him look any better in the eyes of the skating federation. “I’m eighteen.”

“The legal drinking age in China. Tim, we don’t have to go out or drink. I just don’t want you to be left feeling how I felt just because Bruce can’t see what his skaters need.” There was the first dig at Bruce, it was to be expected and if he wasn’t pissed off with Bruce he might have defended him. Bruce had allowed all of this to happen, however, and he wasn’t going to pretend like he could just move past it. Not tonight at least.

Lowering his eyes Tim opened the door wider, flinching as Jason gave his shoulder a gentle squeeze. If it was anyone he liked it would have felt comforting but with the other it just felt so wrong. “You were injured, you didn’t just fall apart.”

“That’s true, but I shouldn’t have been allowed to skate. Just as you shouldn’t have been sent here without anyone. I’m not going to talk about that, get changed and we’ll go do something. You need a distraction.” That was probably fair, he’d already watched the skate twice in the time he’d been alone, not bothering to watch the scores or his reaction in the kiss and cry. He hadn’t exactly stopped feeling that way and it wasn’t about to change rewatching it for a third time. “Tim please, if they think you’re going to spiral they’ll force you to give up your spot at worlds. The best thing to do right now is at least look like you’re socialising and not panicking.”

“Okay,” He said, kneeling down in front of his suitcase. There definitely wasn’t going to be anything inside for going out to bars and clubs, aside from the suit he’d brought with him the nicest things he had were jeans and plain t shirts. They could work but it still didn’t leave him with many options. “Did it look as bad as it felt?”

“You hitting the boards multiple times or the breakdown,” it didn’t seem like Jason needed a response, the soft sigh that followed told him enough. “You just looked like you were in a lot of pain and this was the last straw. People might think you’re actually human now at least.” Quiet and awkward never translated to being robotic in Tim’s mind, but it was a joke that came out of multiple people’s mouths despite knowing him, despite the fact that he looked like anything but a robot on the ice.

It wasn’t important, his public image would never be the person he was even if he tried to remould it now. Everyone would still see him as a kid. “I’m surprised Talia isn’t up your ass for even trying to go out when you’re basically the main event tomorrow.” Thrown away, meaningless chatter, he just didn’t want it to be constant jabs at him or it to be talk about skating.

He didn’t need Jason to laugh about it though, and whilst his laughter was charming it wasn’t a welcome sound to his ears. “I disagree, I saw the music you’re using on the running sheet for practice tomorrow, are we seeing a return of girl Tim?”

“Uh, no. I’m doing a different version of the song.” There was a shirt that didn’t look like something he’d sleep in, keeping his back to Jason he shed his jacket and training shirt, hurriedly pulling the black ¾ sleeve shirt over his head. “And I know people will probably claim I’m going too many different exhibition skates in one season, but Dick did a new one every comp the year he won Olympic gold, so what does it matter?”

He wasn’t defensive, sure he knew plenty of people would say that if he had trained for the comp better; he wouldn’t have lost the way he did. Except it had nothing to do with that this time, it wasn’t new choreography, it was just a different version of the same song. “I think people will just be happy to see you skate, some people thought you really hurt yourself, in all honesty, you’ve got people in your corner.”

“I’m talking to you so that’s not accurate. Before you ask, Dick isn’t here because he couldn’t get a visa in time, which translation means he wasn’t given enough warning because everything’s so fucking disorganised lately.”

“Could he have gone to-”

“Yes.” He looked over his shoulder to see a tight-lipped Jason nodding, eyes averted picking up that Tim was just going to change in the middle of the room. Well at least he wasn’t going to have to awkwardly shuffle into the bathroom despite the fact that it was his hotel room. “I guess it’s appropriate that I hang around you, you’re kind of the master at being pissed off with Bruce Wayne.” It takes less than a minute and he’s sliding on a pair of shoes, looking like he was prepared to go out this whole time.

“Well if he tells you how mad he is about what happened, just tell him to eat a bag of dicks, this was his fault not yours.” He didn’t have to be friends or friendly with Jason, but he was right, he needed to be around someone, both for perceptions sake but so that he didn’t drive himself crazy. If that meant going to an obnoxious bar with music so loud that he couldn’t think, well then that was a positive thing. They didn’t need anything to say to each other, exiting the hotel, Jason looking at his phone briefly before setting off in the direction of wherever he planned on going, Shanghai had a nightlife scene of sorts, he was aware of that but he doubted there were clubs that were like American ones.  “Would you rather go to a club or a bar?” He’d rather go to neither but he’d agreed to come out and he wasn’t about to be a sulking mess the entire night, he already knew he didn’t look great, just by how his eyes felt from all the crying.

“I don’t mind, I can’t speak mandarin very well though, so unless you’re skilled in it we might want to go to a must see place for American tourists.”

“I thought you spoke fine in Hong Kong… Wait that’s Cantonese, okay I can understand. Don’t worry I’ve already got a place in mind but it’s more of a club.” He didn’t feel game enough to ask just what kind of a club and in truth he wouldn’t know where or what it was.

Just follow and look around at the sights nearby. Well it wasn’t quite following as Jason had fallen into step with him. He was still certainly the one guiding although even Jason was glancing at his phone every so often, obviously using a maps app to direct him. At least they weren’t going to get completely and utterly lost. Finding their way back might be a challenge depending on how drunk Jason got. He knew the hotel name so he could get directions back there if the other was completely useless. “Arkham?” Jason only laughed, how he found a place that held the same name as the prison in their home city was amusing but he was sure the choice in venue was based upon the proximity to the hotel. They’d walked for no more than ten minutes to get there.

Thankfully they didn’t have to wait long to get in and even less to get a drink. He didn’t question what it was, it looked well enough like a bottle of beer and he wasn’t all that focused on enjoying it. It was loud enough in here with EDM that if he stayed sober he’d end up with a worse headache than what a hangover could possibly give him. “Drink and have fun.” A hand sat at his side, Tim recognising the touch as less for the purpose of being comforting but to prevent him from stepping away due to the breath against his ear as Jason spoke to him, it being the only way they wouldn’t be completely drowned out by the music.

It wasn’t music he’d ever skate to, he’d once joked about skating to a Portuguese pop song but one look from Bruce told him that wouldn’t happen in a million years. In truth he knew Bruce was irritated enough by his exhibition programs but didn’t deny him them because they were just supposed to be for entertainment’s sake. Pop music had been a quick line in the sand however, although it could be because Dick had a few too many obnoxious pop skates of his own and Bruce wasn’t willing to indulge any of his skaters after Dick.

The first drink was finished quickly, and whilst it took ten minutes or so to hit, he could definitely feel it. That wasn’t to say he was already a stumbling drunk, merely that there was a warmth synonymous with mild intoxication that was undeniable. That hand was still touching him, although he’d made no effort to squirm out of the touch either. He was a foreigner here and whilst he wasn’t thrilled to be here with Jason he didn’t want to end up alone and stuck. “I’d love to know the truth to a rumour about you.” Tim shifted slightly as he placed the bottle on the table in front of him, motioning for Jason to continue. “I always thought you were gay but someone said you and Tamara Fox hooked up on the road at Stars back in July, which one is true?”

Now that was a complicated question. There were always rumours but that was one he hadn’t thought would get out. Either of them. “Sexuality is complicated, yes we did.”

“Would you date her?”

“No, I’m not interested in dating women.”

“So… you hooked up with her to see what it was like and to know if you are gay?”

“It’s complicated.” It felt like a pitiful excuse but he wasn’t going to explain it now, everyone always just assumed it was an experimental excuse that he was covering up his sexuality when in truth Tim wasn’t attracted to women for the purposes of relationships. “I’m getting another drink.”

 

* * *

 

His feet hurt, someone had definitely stepped on them or dropped something on them multiple times when he was on the dance floor. At least Jason hadn’t entirely left his side to allow him to do something stupid, but he’d given him some amount of space. Although he had grabbed him around three in the morning, he’d had what, five drinks in the few hours that they’d been there?

He wouldn’t say he was plastered by any means but he was a lot closer to that than being sober. It was probably why it took so long to get back to the hotel.

No! They were slower because his feet hurt! He couldn’t wait to lay down, Jason had an arm around him again, keeping him from stumbling and getting hurt. He was definitely doing a much better job at not looking like a complete and utter mess. Maybe he hadn’t drunk quite as much as he had. Although Tim could have sworn that Jason was at least one drink ahead of him. It wasn’t fair!

Although what had been fair about the past week or so? No, he didn’t want to think about it, if he did he’d just get mad or sad and he’d certainly cried enough in the kiss and cry earlier. “Why are you helping me?” He grumbled as he was ushered into an elevator, it was lucky there weren’t any officials hanging around in the lobby, there needed to be as little evidence about their inebriation as possible and that would be given up all too quickly if they were forced to talk to anyone important.

Jason seemed to ignore him at first, opening his mouth to ask again before he was smothered with and embrace, being backed into the corner of the tight space, the chatter of the people that had joined them explained a lot. There was nothing more uncomfortable than getting called out right now. “I understand.” It was soft, even for someone that should be drunk, Jason never exactly came across as the guy with good volume control but perhaps it was more based upon the fact that he tended to not care.

Ordinarily he would have shoved Jason away, told him not to touch him but it was comfortable, he might have been stuck in a corner but for someone he’d been rather scared of following what happened at the Grand Prix Final a few years back, Jason was the safest person in Shanghai. A thought that he’d probably be sickened by in the morning. The elevator door opened and their company left, Jason letting out a small hiss. “Fuck, your hands are cold.” His hands? Tim hadn’t been aware that he’d reciprocated the hug, a fact made more startling as he realised his hands were under Jason’s shirt, seeking out the warmth of skin on skin.

He wouldn’t have thought it to be a pleasant feeling, although Tim didn’t think too hard about these kinds of touches, they just weren’t important compared to how a doctor might touch a sore spot of the feeling of skin rubbing off in a new pair of skates. “Yeah… ‘m sorry.” The words weren’t quite slurred but they didn’t come out easily either. He didn’t bother taking his hands away though. Tim finding himself resting his head against Jason’s chest, it was only a few more storeys up but to be able to rest for even just a few seconds just felt right. He was by no means about to pass out and embarrass himself.

He was released the second the elevator stopped moving, Jason giving him a moment to straighten himself before stepping back. Tim didn’t think he swayed at all but the pitied look Jason gave him told him otherwise. He definitely needed some assistance, stumbling over the slight lip in the carpeting from the open elevator door. Irresponsible design plan rather than his own struggles in walking, but there was an arm around him once more, guiding him towards his hotel room door.

Their night was certainly coming to a decided end, not by his own choice but given they had to be awake for the practice in just a few hours’ time, awake and sober, he could accept his fate and sleep likely would come quickly. “Do you have your key on you?” Tim felt around his pockets, pulling out his wallet and handing it over to the other, it wasn’t like he couldn’t have gotten the card out but he could also acknowledge the fact that if he did there was a decent chance that if he did the rest of his cards would spill out.

They were inside quickly, Jason standing awkwardly at the door whilst Tim made his way over to the bed. Laying on his back as he tried to kick his shoes off. “Jay… Don’t leave.” It was almost breathless as though kicking the shoes off was a real struggle for him, as though he wasn’t a professional athlete.

“I need to go to sleep and you don’t seem like you’re great at sharing a bed.” That got him to sit up, his lips pressed in a thin line. He could stand up and drag Jason over but then again, he would likely fall over within two steps. He wasn’t going to be able to conquer getting changed into more suitable clothing either.

“You won’t know until you try.” Defiant, almost childish as though he was trying to prove a point. “Sends a fuck you message to others… to Bruce.”

“I also don’t feel like having hungover Tim killing me for drunk Tim’s poor decision making.” He wobbled as he rose, Jason taking two long strides to grab a hold of him, set him back down on the bed.

Jason mustn’t have expected what came next, Tim’s hand gripping at Jason’s wrist and pulling him down onto the bed, he didn’t make a noise but an outsider would be able to see that he was startled by the movement. “I’m not some mindless drone who can’t stick up for himself and doesn’t know what he’s doing.” He whispered, hovering over Jason. He couldn’t read his expression, in all honesty he didn’t want to.

It wasn’t about Jason, it was about him. About what he wanted, to do or otherwise. Their lips didn’t crash together, at first it was all Tim, kissing him forcefully and desperately, it not being returned until a begging, ‘please,’ slipped past his lips. What did he want? The back of his mind told him this was more than enough, a thought that was quickly shoved to the side by the greedy voice that wanted to take as much as he could.

Kiss, touch, breathe each other’s air. It was something he needed, a touch that was unfamiliar but felt so safe, unlike others there wasn’t this residual fear that he’d intentionally hurt him. In the past or the future perhaps there would be but not tonight.

Was this the actual reason why Jason wouldn’t let go of him for most the night? Not because he’d wanted to avoid one or both of them getting lost but out of interest in him? It didn’t matter. It was happening unless one of them stopped it and Tim had no interest in letting it stop. Jason might have tasted like whatever crappy beers they’d been drinking, mixed in with a sweetness that Tim had no idea where it came from. Truthfully Jason could have started drinking cocktails at some point and he wouldn’t have noticed, he’d stopped paying proper attention to him the moment he moved over to the dance floor.

Kisses moved from Jason’s lips to along his jawline and neck, pushing up his shirt at the same time. It didn’t last long. A frustrated groan escaped him as a firm hand to his chest pushed him away. He got it, keep it light, only for Jason to jerk his head away when he tried to kiss him again. “Tim, no.” He let his hand rest on the bed, not understanding why he was turning him down, perhaps his previous review of the night had been completely wrong.

“I’m not a kid.”

“I know how you’re feeling, you’re pissed off with Bruce and you think this will get back at him. I’m the gold medallist at being pissed off with Bruce but I’m not going to let you do this.”

“It’s not just about Bruce.” He wanted nothing more than to show Jason exactly what he meant but he wasn’t about to endure the humiliation of being rejected again. God, he shouldn’t have tried anything. Jason was right hungover Tim was going to be mad about drunk Tim’s decision making. “I’m going to go…”

He could hear Jason suck in a breath between his teeth as he stood, Tim glancing down expectantly for whatever opinion he had. “It’s your room.”

_ Oh, right. Better sit back down then. _

“I’ll leave, get some rest and we’ll talk tomorrow, okay?” That probably wasn’t true, Tim already wanted to start avoiding Jason, well just earlier tonight he wanted to avoid everyone but had let Jason in after a few convincing words. “Tim?” He really didn’t want to respond.

He should though. “Yeah, I’ll sleep.”

“That’s not what I’m- okay, just make sure you set an alarm.” There was a wave and then he was gone. Alone again, it wasn’t as bad as earlier though, he was thoroughly exhausted now but he still had the sense to check that his alarms were set. Other things were not taken care of however, leaving the lights on and still dressed he allowed himself to crash.

 

* * *

 

Drinking had been a mistake, not because of the headache. That hadn’t been half as bad as he’d expected it to be. No the mistake came from the fact that he remembered every detail from the night before, it was humiliating at best and now he had to not recoil under Jason’s gaze, he couldn’t shy away without people realising Tim had tried to get with him only to be rejected because it had been interpreted as revenge.

It hadn’t been. He knew that much. He’d wanted comfort and his intoxicated mind told him that Jason was the person capable of giving him said comfort. That sex was the best form of comfort. At least he hadn’t forced conversation on him, but that was because the practice had been busy, there was still time to be backed into a corner, whilst they waited to skate or at the banquet later tonight. He should have just changed his flight and gone home a night early.

That wasn’t going to be any easier though.

Going back home meant showing up to the rink and that wasn’t something he wanted to face for quite some time. If ever.

At least the jumps didn’t feel as off today. He didn’t exactly have anything to prove to anyone and if he popped them well at least he landed them. That wasn’t entirely true, he now had to prove he didn’t have some sort of injury and that the mistake riddled free program was nothing more than a fluke. That they hadn’t put too many eggs in the basket of a younger skater when they could have taken up someone who had been solid for years even if those solid scores didn’t always guarantee a podium finish.

“Tim are you running through the skate or are you just winging it?” Laughter came from the several skaters that were on the ice, it wasn’t comment he would wing it but the last time he’d used the song he had claimed to be doing so. A thumb up was all that was needed for them to put CD in, the piano was in a different key compared to last time, the piano rather than the odd synth mix coming through that anyone that was a fan in the stands watching the practice would likely be recording it to put it online. There were no secrets when it came to music and that was why the first time they’d gotten away with it had been such a coup.

In truth it probably looked like he was winging it right now, marking certain patterns, making sure he didn’t risk having any clashes. He might have right of way but focus still lapsed and there were more people on the ice than normal. The only things he did full out were the spins and the axel with the falling leaf  flourish he’d put in there, purely to see if he could hit it. It didn’t feel quite right but he wasn’t going to let it weigh on him.

This was a Gala, it didn’t mean anything. It might be an emotional song but he was still entitled to have fun with it. He just couldn’t screw it up.

 

* * *

 

 

 **Iris Allen West    @WestFigures**                                                1 minute ago

And I thought his original version of this skate made me feel things.

 

 **¯\\_(ツ)_/¯** **@PranceOn**                                                       1 minute ago

BRUCE WAYNE’S PHONE ABOUT TO BLOW UP WITH THE MESSAGE THAT JUST GOT SENT!

 

 **Wally West** **@WestSpeeds**                                                  2 minutes ago

I was promised trash club beats! @Tricky-Dicky you lied to me!

**Dick Grayson** **@Tricky-Dicky**                                                      30 seconds ago

Lies and slander!

 

 **Mel - > Shanghai @MelMonster**                                                       2 minutes ago

JFC can he just do this skate forever. So many phone flashlights on.

 

 **Joker** **@MistahJSays.**                                                   2 minutes ago

No one could possibly be entertained or enthused about watching Tim Drake skate.

 

 **Dick Grayson    @Tricky-Dicky**                                                  3 minutes ago

God I wish I could be there to watch that live. Come home so I can force you to skate it 50 times over

#TimTrash

 **Tim Drake Trash** **@TinyTimTeam333**                       3 minutes ago

ASDFGHJKL DICK IS TIM TRASH NUMBER 1

**Skater Zoned** **@SkaterZoned**                                   2 minutes ago

Your beautiful choreography always helps!

 

 **Tim’s Coffee** **@JennyWeeps**             4 minutes ago

How many times are you going to make me cry this week Timothy?!??! 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The Song for the EX Skate is the Piano version of I'm In Here by Sia, I've got a list for all the songs they'll skate to over the course of the fic that i'll release later on down the line.


	4. Chapter 4

**To: Bruce**

_ Hi Bruce, I’m back in Gotham but my left hamstring’s been feeling extra tight and sore since the gala… 15 hour flight didn’t help. Not coming in until I get it looked at. Will bring a written in a day or two if you want it. Tim _

A text probably wasn’t the appropriate method of communication, but then again, a text going the other way in the past week would have been nice. Would have made him feel slightly supported.

His hamstring wasn’t even remotely sore. He just needed a few days to cool off, to listen to his parents tell him to give up skating and focus on school and go to college. Then finally be able to rest and reassess what he was going to do about Worlds.

He couldn’t continue down the path that Bruce had laid out for him, yeah, he had another silver medal and a national title that no one considered valid considering the top skater wasn’t actually there. He was always going to be in Jason and Dick’s shadows for the way he came through, he had the potential to eclipse Jason however, and Bruce wasn’t giving him the time of day to do so. All his mom had done when he got home was hug him, said nothing, just allowed him to go up to his room to rest. He was surprised she’d come home before he had, having set out on another work trip a few weeks ago.

It was always possible she’d come home because of what happened. They might not have always been around, but they certainly cared about their only child, which was why they wanted him to give skating up. There were people out there who thought it was because they didn’t understand or because they didn’t value the sport. It had always been for the betterment of their child, to give him a long-lasting career, to stop the injuries even though so far they’d only been minor. Jack Drake was by no means a fan of Bruce but they both still supported him financially and attended whatever competitions they could.

They weren’t bad parents, they’d just been absent and people interpreted that as neglect even though it had allowed Tim skate whenever he pleased as a kid and he always had a nanny taking care of his more important needs. They were good people who loved their son, they were just incredibly busy. “Are you going to see a physiotherapist or a chiropractor, or are you avoiding the rink, darling?” A fair question if ever there was one, he didn’t realise she’d seen him messaging Bruce, or perhaps she’d seen the bruising on his back when she’d tried to wake him up this morning.

It wasn’t an easy question to answer, he hadn’t booked in an appointment and he didn’t need to go, he was essentially paying for a professional to lie on paper and waste half an hour or so. He’d said he would bring a written in though. Which meant he’d have to see someone and not seeing a specialist would be a giveaway that he lied. That he just needed some time away from them. From Bruce and Damian especially. “I’ll book an appointment in a bit. I don’t think they can do much about wounded pride though.” He mumbled, leaning into the breakfast bar as he played with his cereal. Typically he wouldn’t admit that, there was no point in stating the obvious but he needed his mother to know that he wasn’t struggling as much as he looked.

Even though it was a terrible idea and he still cringed at the thought, going out and getting drunk had been good for him, had distracted him for long enough to give him some sort of release. “You have one more competition for the year, right?”

“Unless I have to prove I’m mentally fit for another major comp.” Tim looked up at his mother, offering a small smile, he was sure she didn’t find it amusing but it was still worth a shot. “It’s in Oslo if you’re interested in going, the first weekend of April.”

She looked like she at least appreciated the soft invitation, it wasn’t often they really talked about skating in a positive light. He tended to assume that his parents wouldn’t ever be able to attend and they didn’t quite understand the skills or opinions he had. “I believe we’ve planned to be in Europe at the time, so we’ll try to be there for you.” It wasn’t an outright yes or no, but it meant the possibility that they would attend, hopefully he’d be back in form by then. “I’ll be returning to your father the day after tomorrow, we’re going to be in the south of Mexico. If anything happens we might not be easy to contact but you should still attempt to.” There it was, the short visit with a goodbye that featured nothing more than a ‘call if you need anything’, it could be worse, being able to see her was good enough. She hadn’t needed to come back but she did.

“Nothing’s going to happen, I just need a few days and then I’ll go back and pretend to be okay with everything.” Key word being pretend. There was no being okay with any of this but he still needed to act the part or else face scrutiny for being ungrateful for years of training under Bruce. His mother’s expression told him that he didn’t inspire confidence in her.

“Honey, you don’t have to stay with Bruce, I know you’re not comfortable with the idea of Ra’s or Talia coaching you but there are other coaches, you have options.” Two gentle hands rested on his shoulders, if his father said it, it wouldn’t be as delicately put. He wasn’t sure as to what Janet Drake’s feelings about Bruce were but they’d certainly gotten more negative over the past year. “We’ll support you no matter what but you need to stick up for yourself more, you’ve got that bite in you, everyone sees it when you go against that Jason Todd.” So she’d read the Vale article, or she’d seen the warm up. He didn’t know if it was captured on camera but it certainly wasn’t his finest moment as a human. Although Jason as a competitor brought out a nasty side of him at times.

As a person… well that was also a different side all together as well.  Where there any real options though? Bruce’s name carried a lot of weight, more than most coaches and whilst it wasn’t fair a move would likely have an effect on his scores. “I can’t just change in the middle of the season, it’s something to think about in April and May.” It was something to think about.

It wasn’t even Bruce that was the problem, it was Damian, which in turn made Bruce a problem. Everyone could see it and whilst Dick had tried to keep the peace he could tell even Dick was struggling to know what to do. At least Dick had bothered to call him after the short program and whilst Tim had intentionally missed his calls after the free, he was sure the other understood. He didn’t have to say much for Dick to pick up on what was going on in his head, it was why he enjoyed working with him so much, Dick knew how to pull people out of a funk without any sort of hesitation.

He probably should at least call Dick, it would also send a pretty clear message to Bruce, that is if Bruce even bothered to care.

He should definitely call Dick, not to be spiteful towards Bruce but to make sure the other knew he was back and that he wasn’t mad at him. “I’m going to call someone… Could you see if my regular physio has any time tomorrow or Thursday, if you need to do things, I can call after.” He said softly, putting the bowl of cereal in the sink, not quite finished, bored of shovelling it into his mouth or stirring it around.

“I’ll do it. Make whatever calls you need.” She waved him off as Tim picked his phone up off the counter, taking slow steps towards the stairs, he might not have been injured but the bruising on his back did hurt if he moved too quickly or in the wrong way.

Tim tapped on Dick’s contact number as soon as he entered his room, adjusting the pillows that sat on the seat built into the window so that they were against the wall, resting back against them, he really would need to unpack today or tomorrow, sort out what to do with the gifts that had come from fans. “Tim, hey!” Loud as always. At least Dick sounded happy to hear from him.

“You’re not busy, are you?” He didn’t need to speak softly but he could hear the music in the background, there was always some sort of music playing, but if Dick was taking a call when he should be working he’d feel guilty.

“Nah, what’s up, Bruce said you might have hurt yourself and aren’t coming in for a few days?” Well at least Bruce had read the text message even though he hadn’t bothered to respond to it. Radio silence wasn’t exactly helping his attitude towards his coach.

“Ah yeah… Mom said she’s going to book an appointment to see if I am going to have to rest it for longer.”

“You’ll be fine, I’ve seen you bounce back before, they’ll just tell you to stop with any extensions that strain it.” Always so confident, he was sure Dick had his fair share of injuries and soreness although he rarely made any comments on it. There was an exaggerated gasp on the other end of the line, Tim rolling his eyes, Dick tended to react more so than the average person when seeing something he liked. “Holy shit! I never thought I’d see you in here again…” There was some chatter, Tim not able to make out who was speaking. He certainly was curious. “Hey, did you know-” He was cut off again, some muffled noises that he was sure sounded like Dick. “Okay fine! Sorry man, I have to go, we’ll talk properly when you bring in your doctor’s excuse for teacher.”

“Yeah that’s okay, I wasn’t even sure you’d be free so get back to work, I’ll see you before Friday hopefully.” Dick was gone without another word, whatever or whomever had come in obviously needing him immediately.

 

* * *

 

“You’ll be fine, I’ve seen you bounce back before, they’ll just tell you to stop with any extensions that strain it.” Dick leaned back in his chair, unable to wipe the smile off his face, Tim sounded normal at least. Quiet, sure but that quiet nature that was more obvious when he was younger had reared its head throughout this season. He’d just hoped that Tim wasn’t still utterly crushed like he had looked after the free skate. He might have masked it at the Gala but Dick was sure that it was because he was using the defeated emotions for the skate.

“Dick!” Several heads on the ice turned towards the door as well as a few bystanders, Dick quickly out of his seat. Well this wasn’t going to be a day without distraction or gossip, it wasn’t going to be a week without gossip that was for sure.

“Holy shit! I never thought I’d see you in here again...” Oh God, that would have been right in Tim’s ear. He held the phone to his chest. “You said you’d never come back, here for any reason at all, even if it was a comp.” It had been years and Jason had kept good on his word, deliberately missing a stop on the road for an ice show two summers ago, because he didn’t want to skate at the rink run by Bruce Wayne.

Yet here he was. “Tim’s not here is he?”

“No, he’s resting this week.” He slowly put the phone back to his ear. “Hey, did you know-”

Jason was quick, clamping his hand over his mouth before he could finish speaking. “He doesn’t, now help me find your boss.” He hissed, the calm expression he’d worn just seconds before now far more frantic. “I don’t want him to know… Not while I’m here.”

The hand was lowered, Dick putting the phone back to his ear. This seemed fishy but he was willing to play along in the game. He’d noticed their interactions had softened slightly, Jason had changed first but Tim had started to defrost somewhat as well. “Okay fine!” He needed to at least make some sort of promise to talk to Tim later. He was sure he’d be begging for answers later on. “Sorry man, I have to go, we’ll talk properly when you bring in your doctor’s excuse for teacher.”

Tim gave another soft response that in truth he only half listened to, far too curious about Jason’s presence to focus on anything else. As soon as the last words were uttered he hung up, slipping his phone back into his jacket pocket.

“I thought you and Tim were good, well aside from whatever happened in the warm up, why are you here if you’re avoiding him?”

Jason looked uneasy, but determined about something. Whatever he wanted from Bruce it looked like he was about to go into battle. There was no chance in hell that he was going to ask Bruce to coach him again. “Yeah, well, I may have said something he didn’t particularly like, he snapped at me and then avoided me during the Gala and banquet. More importantly, Bruce?”

Dick shrugged, finding Bruce wasn’t always the easiest of things to do. “I don’t know where he is, but I haven’t seen him leave which means he is here… Somewhere.” He had a lesson scheduled in ten minutes time, which meant a man hunt for Bruce wasn’t what he should be joining in on. “You’re free to look for him.”

“No! I need you with me, a witnesses and tape will mean he can’t report shit.” That didn’t exactly inspire confidence. However, Jason obviously wanted someone to keep Bruce accountable for what happened and Dick knew he was probably the best person for it. “You can film me if you want just to make sure.” That smile, so forced, trying to act sweet even though they were both well aware of the fact that whatever it was that Jason was wanting to do would likely be some sort of trouble.

If it meant Jason would show some sort of restraint then it was better to just go along with it. “Alright let’s see if he’s in the office upstairs then.”

He wasn’t, if Bruce had slipped out someone would know, Dick asking a few members of staff if they’d seen him, Jason lurking in the background listening. The longer it was taking the more worked up the other seemed to get, it wasn’t until Alfred stumbled upon them back in the office looking through Bruce’s schedule that they got the answer. In the small dance studio working with Damian.

A fact that only seemed to irritate Jason more. He didn’t even have time to rise out of the chair before Jason was out of the room and making a b-line for the studio. He was still a few steps behind when Jason burst open the door. “Hi Bruce, long time no see, you might not remember me I’m the first skater you fucked over in their prime.” That tone was utterly disgusting, it couldn’t even be labelled as forced sweetness, he knew very well that Jason was making a complete and utter mockery of those that played nice.

“What do you want Jason?” Bored, irritated, he didn’t even know what the right way to describe Bruce’s tone was, he’d only gotten back on Sunday night and hadn’t been the most engaged of people yesterday but he’d seemed in a decent enough mood this morning. He was leaning against the wall, watching Damian who was stretching against the barre.

Jason showing up wasn’t going to produce the nicest side of Bruce. “Oh I thought someone might need to have a little chat with you. Because your skater, you know the one that fell off the podium for the first time in his career, who wouldn’t dare disrespect you enough to say how he actually felt about all this.” So that was the actual reason Jason didn’t want Tim to know, they weren’t exactly friends but Jason was the person who knew what it was like to be the victim of Bruce’s mistakes.

Tim would need to see this, not because it was Jason, but because he needed to know how Bruce would react about being confronted with the aftermath of the competition. “And you think it’s your place to tell me how to manage my skaters?” No one should have to hear it either, Dick took his phone out of his pocket, swiping into the camera as he turned his back to the room, nudging the door closed his foot, once he had it recording the phone was back in his jacket pocket.

“I don’t care if it’s my place or not! You hurt someone who has been nothing but loyal to you. Taken actual hits- yes they were from me, that’s not the point, for you. No other skater would do that for a coach.” Just how long had he been rehearsing this in his head, it took just under fifteen hours to fly in and he could have gotten in yesterday afternoon or the evening? There was no guarantee he could shut down everything but Bruce hadn’t even had the chance to open his mouth.

Damian on the other hand did. “It’s not as though he would have been successful anyway, could barely get through a day’s training without having some sort of fit.” Not a total lie but there was no doubt in Dick’s mind that Damian hadn’t stopped for a moment to think that he was exactly what was causing Tim to get so upset.

“Really, you’re not going to defend him, he was in first after the short or did you not care enough to know that?” Silence, both Dick and Jason waiting for some sort of response, he hoped Bruce could at least say something that didn’t make him seem like even more of an asshole. “So your record with the men's stands at one skater who won everything imaginable, me who you broke physically something which you still refuse to accept responsibility for, and one you’ve broken mentally and I doubt you think you’ve done anything wrong by him.”

Okay, definitely irritated now. “If you’re actually here to demand an apology for something that happened years ago, I did apologize and you threw a tantrum and left my coaching. Some people just don’t have what is needed to win, you thought you were invincible and wouldn’t have listened-”

“This has nothing to do with me! If Tim didn’t listen to every fucking word you said he’d have won that World Championship.” He wasn’t even trying to be quiet at this point, the space might have been small but Jason’s voice certainly bounced off the walls. “You made us all so fucking afraid of failing you, you used to tell me all you wanted was for me to do what you said and do it right. That’s not what you want at all though, because when anyone does that you’re still not satisfied and you get bored with them.”

Dick couldn’t help but bite his lip, no matter how he weighed in it wasn’t going to sound great and whilst to an extent Jason was right, a lot of the words seemed to be coming from his own experience. “Oh I get it, you fucked the fa-”

“Damian, leave… this has nothing to do with you.” Dick hadn’t expected to raise his voice so suddenly, there was a line that couldn’t continue to be crossed, he might not want to pick between Bruce and Jason but Damian couldn’t keep getting away with what had been coming out of his mouth lately. Bruce hadn’t put a stop to it even though he probably heard far worse things come out of his mouth and he couldn’t for the life of him understand how he could listen to it.

Everyone standing stiff as they watched the teen stomp out, Dick ensuring that the door was pressed shut behind him. “Funny, both Talia and Ra’s have no issue with people’s preferences. That shit comes from learned behaviours, did he get it from you?”

“Of course not, you can attack me as a coach because of our history but you have no idea what it’s like to parent a child.” Christ, he sounded like a middle aged woman when he phrased it like that.

“You’re not being attacked, I’m standing several feet away from you and just because I’m giving you some harsh truths doesn’t mean it’s an attack.”

“As far as I know, Tim doesn’t like you and wouldn’t appreciate you being here, let alone having an opinion on how he’s coached.”

“Bruce, he wasn’t coached that’s the point everyone is making.” Dick sighed, it wasn’t the smartest thing to speak up on but the articles were everywhere, if Bruce looked at even one of them he’d know who was being made to look like the fuck up. “Yes there’s years of training and work from a coach that goes into creating a champion skater but you sent him there with no one when I could have gone to Germany for Damian without any trouble. Tim made huge mistakes but no one was there for him to tell him that it was going to be okay, that he hadn’t destroyed his entire career, did you at least call or even text him?”

“He and I will meet to discuss the competition when he returns which was always the intention regardless of what happened.” So that was a no.

“Jesus fucking Christ, Bruce, I thought you were a shitty coach before coming in for this little talk but you actually prove how fucked you are as a person every time you open your mouth.” He couldn’t see Jason managing to provoke Bruce but he’d already said plenty already, and none of it sounded good.

Bruce had clearly had enough, his speaking up probably hadn’t helped the matter either. “Jason you’ve outstayed your welcome, you can leave or we can make some phone calls.”

It was a threat that could mean a lot of things, Jason wanted it recorded, likely so if Bruce tried to claim to the ISU or USFSA that he’d done more than yell at him they couldn’t sanction him at all but he could still have him removed by police as well. Hell even reporting it to the ISU or USFSA would taint Jason for some time. “Fine I’ll go. You have no chance of keeping him past this season anyway, I can promise you that. I’m sure Ra’s will send you a thank you letter for handing Tim over on a silver platter.”

Jason getting the last word in wasn’t surprising and Bruce’s shoulders dropped slightly once the door opened and closed again. Leaving just the two of them, Bruce was definitely not pleased with him for saying something.

But he had more left to say. “I have a question, I’m late for a lesson but I need to know this… What did you think of Tim’s skates?”

“I believe the scores were very reflective of what happened.” The worst way he could have answered the question, undeniable proof that he hadn’t watched either the short program or the free skate. Telling the truth would have been a far better option.

There was so much he could say to that, start another fight but potentially lose his job at the rink and then end up with a damaged reputation as well. “If he asks, maybe just say you haven’t had the chance to watch, it’ll hurt a lot less.” He’d definitely said his piece and he wasn’t about to deny Tim the opportunity to throw the past few weeks back in Bruce’s face.

That is if Tim found fight to actually force Bruce into actually listening to him.

 


	5. Chapter 5

Dick greeted him with a hug and a grin, whispering in his hair about how bad he felt having to watch what happened. Almost trying to beg for forgiveness even though Tim had no negative feelings towards him. The conversation quickly got to an all too shocking revelation. “Can you believe Jason flew all the way over here just to yell at Bruce?”

He couldn’t believe that for a second. Jason had sworn many times he’d never step back into the rink again. “No. Hold on what do you mean flew over to yell at Bruce? He trains in Switzerland, what a waste of time.” Jason liked to yell at Bruce from time to time, it was a bigger passion than skating, he remembered Bruce taking a call from Talia in which Jason had somehow managed to give him a piece of his mind at the time.

“He just showed up on Tuesday, when we were on the phone for the sole reason of chewing Bruce out. It was why I had to go so suddenly.” Dick’s expression was hard to read, he couldn’t tell if he was happy about what happened or if he was nervous. He supposed it could be both.

Tim couldn’t help making an unimpressed face. “Why?” Did Jason actually need a reason to yell at Bruce though?

“Come on, you know why. ‘Let me coach you Tim, Bruce doesn’t appreciate you and I know Ra’s wants you but who would be better than your biggest competition.’” The impression of Jason wasn’t spot on by any means but Tim remembered that afternoon well, he’d laughed harder than he thought he would even though Jason had been serious.

“I still don’t think he realises how stupid that sounded at the ti- he yelled at Bruce because of me?” Tim cringed as he raised his voice, that was probably far too loud and given that a few heads turned his way, he was shocked though, how could he not be? Dick stuck up for him every now and then but that was when things got out of hand.

“Uh huh, it was kind of amazing too, just stormed into the studio a let him have it. I don’t know if any of it sunk in but I had to throw Damian out.”

“Was it yelling about me but deep down he was yelling about what Bruce did to him.”

Dick pulled out his phone, looking from him to it. “I’m not going to lie, a little bit of that yeah, but I recorded it so if you want to listen you can.” Now that was interesting, Tim wasn’t sure what he was going to get out of this. They hadn’t spoken, he hadn’t seen him at the airport and he wouldn’t have thought Jason could afford the flights at such short notice even if it was to pick a fight with Bruce.

It really was a fight over him, Jason having read into feelings that Tim hadn’t talked about but then again no one knew better about how he felt than Jason. He seemed to believe in him more than Bruce did. Everyone said no one knew you better than your competition, that it was a positive thing to have a comradery with one’s competition. When he’d been in juniors with Bart and Conner it made a lot of sense. Jason was a different case though. “He did this on Tuesday?”

“Yeah, Tim don’t get mad at Jason, he just wanted to stick up for you, said you were avoiding him after what happened during the warm up.” How did he look if Dick thought he was about to get mad with Jason? The other obviously hadn’t told Dick about what happened the night after the free skate, it wasn’t fair to say he’d actively avoided him until the banquet, that was when Jason had attempted to talk to him, when Tim had ducked into the bathroom and Jason had been wise enough to not trap him in there.

“Well I… That’s not entirely true.” He sighed.

“What do you mean?”

No, he couldn’t keep talking about this, it would result in him getting mad, upset or just embarrassed when it was just meant to be a quick in and out, meet with Bruce and then leave. “It doesn’t matter, I’m going up to Bruce’s office, he needs this medical certificate anyway.”

“Are you actually injured?” A fair question, Tim knew he was asking about more than what he claimed to be a problem, this was the concerned brother like figure that would skate around with him, pretending to ice dance because he was in a bad mood.

“Just bruising. Is Bruce mad at me?” The video hadn’t exactly given away all that much, Bruce speaking in the same monotonous tone that he was used to. Tim didn’t need verbal confirmation, the way Dick looked away from him said everything. “He doesn’t care, should have known.”

Dick took a deep breath, lowering his voice when he spoke next. “If you have something to say, maybe it would be better to get it out in the air now rather than letting it stew for even longer.” He’d certainly never encouraged him to stand up to Bruce, well not for these reasons, more when Tim had needed to change training times for a month a few years back and he’d been afraid to ask Bruce if it was okay to make such changes.

There was just one undeniable fact.

“He’s not going to listen.”

“You’ve got to at least try, maybe it can change things before worlds.” A change, that was definitely what was needed, he didn’t know what way but given there was a little under two months between now and Worlds he needed to ask for some sort of change or else start looking elsewhere.

Elsewhere had been starting to sound real good for quite a while now.

The steps he took upstairs were deliberately slow, wanting to process just what he was going to say to Bruce, they were right, he needed to stick up for himself. To see for himself whether any of this was worth it anymore.

There was no need to knock, the door was open but Bruce wasn’t in his office, Tim taking the seat opposite Bruce’s, setting the letter on the desk. If he had to wait long there were two ways this would go. Either he’d mellow out and end up not saying anything or he’d end up picking the fight he should have had with Bruce when he said he wasn’t coming to the competition with him.

Twenty-six minutes, that’s how long it took Bruce to come up. No apology for making him wait, regardless of whether he knew Tim was there it was still the polite thing to say. “You’ve rested enough?”

Of course, it was already all about training. “Yes.”

Bruce took his seat, eyeing Tim before he spoke again. “I think it’s best if we talked about what happened.” At least there was no avoiding the conversation but the next words that came out of Bruce’s mouth had his jaw on the floor. “Reacting like that, to scores or a bad skate is inexcusable.”

“Showing up without a coach is inexcusable.” Tim didn’t miss a beat, it wasn’t because what Bruce said was predictable, or that he’d imagined this conversation in any way. It was just something he’d wanted to say before he left.

“I tried to explain t-”

“No... No. You didn’t explain you justified.” Tim cut him off, he wasn’t going to let Bruce try and talk his way out of it and Bruce seemed to already be calculating another excuse. A sick part of him wanted to hear Bruce say that he thought he was never going to be good enough.

“You left before I could.”

“I left because you weren’t going to listen to a word I said.” Bruce rose from his seat, Tim following suit, he wasn’t going to let the other just walk away from a discussion that he didn’t like. If everyone had to hear this then they would. “You didn’t believe in me for a second, some people just don’t have what is needed to win. Don’t deny that you were referring to me when you said it.”

Bruce stopped, hand clenching the railing of the stairs. “You spoke to Jason?” He didn’t even bother to look back at Tim.

“I spoke to Dick. He recorded everything so I would know about it.” And he was off again. Dragging Dick into it probably wasn’t the best decision, Bruce was his boss now after all, but then again he had spoken up also, had defended him, he couldn’t be reprimanded for making sure he knew what happened. For all Dick knew Jason could have copped the brunt of Tim’s fire.

“You don’t understand.”

Tim scoffed, now starting to raise his voice, the music around the rink wasn’t too loud but if he kept up his normal manner of speaking he’d be drowned out by the distance that Bruce was trying to set between them. “You’re not even denying it. I haven’t been happy here for a long time and you act like you’re completely blind to it.”

“You should have said something.”

“I did!” He yelled, causing Bruce to stop and face him. He’d never yelled like that before. “You just don’t listen to me. I told you after the first time I couldn’t go to a competition alone, look what happened! I told you all the horrible things Damian had to say about and to me before he mouthed off to the media and you did nothing! I told you that I stood no chance of beating Jason by changing the spin combination and you didn’t want to deal with me and threatened to walk off. At World Championships, Bruce, I lost that because I listened to you.” It wasn’t the most objective of recalls but Tim could remember it so clearly still, because it still felt like such a sore spot, it was something Bruce ignored almost entirely. They’d never had any closure regarding that matter.

“That happened nearly two years ago there is no merit in dredging up something that is of no consequence at this point.”

There were people looking at them, several phones out, epic skater meltdown would be online by the end of the night. At least he hadn’t hit anyone or tried to break a knee with a retractable baton, he was merely speaking… well yelling his thoughts and feelings. “No merit. Bruce if you think I’m a failure then own your own mistakes.”

“If you have a problem then find another coach.” Of course, it was the old excuse principals would give if a student was being bullied. That wasn’t his situation but Bruce was clearly trying to push him out, perhaps not forever but he clearly wanted him out for the day.

“You have no fucking idea how to show empathy!” He needed to take a breath, stop himself from using any emotion other than anger. Make sure he didn’t cry so he didn’t look completely hysterical. “I say one thing and it’s ‘fuck you Tim, you’re an ungrateful asshole who can’t amount to anything’, even though I’ve consistently performed, complained as little as possible and when I did it was because I genuinely needed to understand your motives.”

“You’re behaving like a child.” Bruce sighed, just once he thought maybe Bruce would give an emotional reaction rather than a condescending one.

“I’m eighteen! I haven’t had the chance to be a child since you reluctantly decided to coach me.”

“I wasn’t reluctant.” Liar.

“Dick and Alfred forced you into it after Jason left!” Forced might not have been entirely fair but as Bruce said, it was of no consequence, he’d certainly been pushed into taking on Tim from the two of them. “The only people who’s ever made me question whether I’ve ‘got it’ or not are you and your spawn.”

“Those doubts come from your own subconscious.”

Tim lowered his eyes, shaking his head slowly, he thought he hated Damian, how he felt about Bruce right now was a whole other level of hatred. “Do you also not listen to yourself, or do you lie so much you’ve convinced yourself everything that comes out of your mouth is word of law?”

Dick put a hand on his shoulder that was quickly shrugged off. “Tim, stop this isn’t the place.” Had he not just told him to express how he was feeling? Shown him and said the things that let him finally decide to let Bruce have it.

“No, maybe he’ll listen if everyone keeps telling him.” He hissed, briefly looking to Dick before really focusing in on Bruce. “You break people Bruce, you take talented skaters and leave them wanting to quit because you squash every single success and make each one of us believe if we’re not on top we just aren’t good enough. You were the first person to say my win last month didn’t matter until I beat Jason.”

There is was, a quiver in Bruce’s jaw as he clenched it. That was the dirty laundry he didn’t want aired, because it wasn’t just his own personal feelings of frustration. “Have you had enough?” He said through gritted teeth, staring Tim down.

“Haven’t you? You didn’t watch any of the skates, didn’t call or text the whole time I was in Shanghai, which it wasn’t established we’d talk once I was back. You couldn’t care less though.” He was still yelling, behind him he could hear Dick trying to herd a few people away, it was enough of a public spectacle that all eyes were on them now. He’d already known about those that were filming but he was sure there were people live tweeting everything amongst other things. “I guess I have. There is no hope of making you understand just how much it hurts knowing little you care, I’ll finish the season elsewhere, maybe your old friend Ra’s will take me, he’s asked more times than I can count on both hands.”

Tim turned to leave, bumping Damian as he turned, a genuine mistake, he hadn’t realised the other was so close behind him, filming every little detail. “Then leave, you’re no better than Jason.” So Bruce wanted to get the final word in, he’d failed to do so with Jason and he was trying to get it in now as well.

It was childish but he hit the phone out of Damian’s hand, it wasn’t hard enough to break it no matter how much Tim wished for it to be. “I’d rather be like him, he bounced back from your destruction.”

 

* * *

 

**Tim Drake Splits with Wayne and Co. Ahead of Worlds ~ A Thread**

_ In several days since Four Continents many on social media have wondered what will happen with the rest of Tim Drake’s season. After a shocking  _ _ video _ _ posted from an anonymous member of Wayne’s rink it has become abundantly clear that Drake will not be finishing the year off with Wayne. _

_ The poster titled the video, Skater Meltdown: Tim Drake Screams at Bruce Wayne and Quits! Now we understand this might have purely been a move to increase views however after reviewing the contents of the video it’s undeniable that Drake had been pushed to the breaking point by his coach. _

_ It’s not often we get to see the behind the scenes of the skater’s lives and this particular skater has always been a quiet and unassuming presence. Which has only made fans wonder if the persona that they see is an entirely different person to the real Timothy Drake. _

_ There are several questions that will need to be answered in light of this, namely who will he finish the season off with? Along with, whether USFSA will allow him to compete at Worlds when he’s made a powerful enemy out of Bruce Wayne today? _

AimFigure 10 minutes ago

Fuck me gently with a chainsaw. Who knew Tim had that in him?

Liked by 3 users

 

Anonymous29582048 10 minutes ago

How much we betting Damian Wayne posted this?

Liked by 45 users

RyothSkating 7 minutes ago

No way, he talks shit but he’s harmless.

TimTamTeam 6 minutes ago

@RyothSkating You’re kidding right? He’s the one person Tim seems to hate enough to smack a phone out of their hands.

Liked by 2 users

Anonymous29582048 3 minutes ago

He’s also outed Tim last year and has been caught calling him a f****t amongst other things.

RyothSkating 1 minute ago

Doubt it. He’s a kid.

 

SoyBoySkater 8 minutes ago

Bruce Wayne’s a genius and all these idiots are so ungrateful for what he’s brought to skating.

Liked by 8 users

BotToddy 6 minutes ago

You know when twenty people are saying one bitch is crazy, bitch tends to be crazy.

Liked by 9 users

SoyBoySkater 2 minutes ago

Your head any further up Jason Todd’s ass? Two people have said it, both being ungrateful brats who don’t know a good thing until it’s gone.

BotToddy 1 minute ago

Sbdflebgehbgvous Jason won an Olympic gold and several world championships titles and it wasn’t with Bruce. Don’t be salty my reply got more likes than your comment

Liked by 4 users

 

BotToddy 7 minutes ago

Does this mean we’re finally getting Jason and Tim at the same rink? He basically said he’s going to get Ra’s for the rest of the season.

Liked by 23 users

CipherSkatingCutie 1 minute ago

#ThePlan

Liked by 1 user

 

* * *

 

“Holy shit! Fuck yes!” He hadn’t called ahead, he definitely should have but considering Jason had shown up at his rink unannounced,  _ former rink _ , he was tempted to take some revenge. Ten hours on a plane and then two and a half driving had him a little bit out of it. Tim had one destination in mind and the thought to at least warn someone had slipped his mind. “I’ve just won so much money, from a bet with Roy. If you’re going to cuss me out too, I’d like my film crew present so I can send an application in for a reality tv show.”

Tim stood at the barrier, trying to think of something to say, trying to not laugh at how crazy Jason sounded. This was still a serious matter but when Jason skated over and hugged him, Tim couldn’t help but return the comforting gesture. His drunken behaviour after Four Continents might have been embarrassing to say the least but they didn’t need to bring it up, Jason had acted more like a friend than anyone else and he wasn’t going to pretend like he wasn’t unbelievably grateful for the fact. “Thank you.” He mumbled into the hug, the squeeze from Jason saying more than enough.

“I thought you weren’t ever going to be coached by Ra’s, I know things are bad but other people would gladly take you on.”

“I know, I don’t want Ra’s. I want to take you up on an offer you made.” He couldn’t say he’d ever seen Jason stunned to silence, he’d made the comment several times and whilst the first had been utterly ridiculous, he’d made sure Tim knew just how serious he was every time they’d met since the off season. “So… can I, even if it’s just for a few weeks?”

The arms around him slowly let go, Jason doing one backwards swizzle putting him out of touching distance, Tim wasn’t game enough to climb over the barrier and step closer to him in sneakers, he wouldn’t fall flat on his face but Jason would easily be able to escape him. “God, Talia is going to be so fucking mad at me.”

It wasn’t an outright yes but it might as well have been. “That’s not anything new.” He shrugged, this rink was definitely nowhere near as busy as Bruce’s but it wasn’t quiet either, they didn’t seem to be anywhere near as obsessed with documenting everything at least. Ra’s and Talia both had reputations for being for rules, so it wouldn’t have surprised him if that was because they didn’t want anything leaking out of the rink, control was important and they certainly seemed to relish in it.

Jason at least cracked a smile, he didn’t see himself as being particularly funny but the dry comments he made sometimes got other people’s sense of humour. It wasn’t often though. “I’ll do it, obviously, but it’s not going to be as hands on as it was with them. You won’t have Dick to pick you up if you’re in a bad mood and I’m not going to dictate every little element of your programs.”

“I mean that makes sense, you don’t want to be accused of sabotage and people would think I was crazy if I blindly trusted you.” He shrugged, the fact that he’d said it so openly was a good sign, that perhaps they’d work together more like equals rather than just skater and coach. There were still going to be plenty of people that thought he was completely and utterly crazy, but they also probably thought his outburst at Bruce had been sudden rather that a long time coming.

“Give me an hour, I have a lesson to teach and then want to do some stuff myself, then we’ll come up with some sort of an outline for a plan.” It was more mature and prepared than Tim thought he’d be. He had half expected Jason to be a very hands-on coach when it came to on ice training but was lacklustre elsewhere. Yes, he was a champion but it wasn’t like he was the most sensible of people at times and he was never quite sure what aspects of Jason’s life that translated to.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for all the support so far, I've really enjoyed what I've written and can't wait to share the rest of it.


	6. Chapter 6

It felt like they’d been talking for days, Jason bringing out three notebooks as well as paperwork for the actual rink, telling him they were all important. It turned out Jason was a level of obsessive compulsive that Tim had honestly never seen in him before. It didn’t seem like something he’d picked up off of Bruce or Talia either, as he’d looked through a few of them. It seemed like he documented everything he did training wise, setting out meal plans around competitions, ideas for snacks to take whilst flying, with comments about how he hated plane food. Tim liked making lists but this was a whole other level. Jason would probably kill him for eating Froot Loops for dinner sometimes not to mention his coffee consumption.

He’d always taken Jason as the sort that would wing it but then again, he might have been more like that when he was younger, his injury had taken quite a bit of time to recover from and when he’d been injured. “Where are you going to stay, your parents support you right? Which means they probably aren’t thrilled about the cost of this.”

Tim glanced up from one of the books, looking across the table. “They weren’t in love with the sudden plane tickets or the fact that I hired a car but they’re happy I’ve come across, they just wished I waited a little longer. I can get a hotel room for a little bit and then start looking for an apartment if it becomes a permanent move.”

“A hotel room? For fifty-one nights, at least? That’s going to cost thousands of dollars.”

Tim couldn’t help but laugh, handing the notebook back over to Jason. “You’re already counting down the sleeps until Worlds? Is it your version of Christmas?” The other man shrugged, offering no real response to the question. It was no secret Jason was competitive, every competition was another goal in a not too distant future. He’d listened to him complain about how he hated off season to Dick a time or two before. “As for the hotel unless you have a better idea, where else would I go?”

“My place is a shoebox but it’s got a second bedroom, which is currently just being used as storage.”

Staying at Jason’s would make things cheaper, would mean his parents couldn’t breathe down his neck about the costs of the move quite so much. But it meant living with Jason, who he’d tried to hook up with when he’d needed someone to comfort him. Experimenting whether he was capable of coaching him was one thing, living with him was a whole other story. “But that means you won’t have storage.” A lame excuse at best, if there was a way to reduce costs any sensible person wouldn’t care about the fact that they had less storage.

He could see a few muscles twitch, Tim unable to read if it was an annoyed reaction or an amused one. “Just say no if you’re uncomfortable with the offer.”

“I’m not- I haven’t booked anything in yet, so at least for tonight I’m not going to say no.”

“Tonight’s actually not good for me…” The way each word was exaggerated made it all too obvious that he was making a joke, but Tim played along with a frown. If Jason wanted to poke fun then he was more than willing to let him. He was doing him a favour regardless of how much he was going to make Tim pay for it. “I’m kidding, you will have to sleep on the sofa unless we can find an air mattress at Migros.”

“Migros?”

“It’s a supermarket, but we can go there and if it fails you’ll get to curl up on my sofa until you can order a bed online or whatever.”

Tim nodded slowly, opening his mouth to make a smart comment but closing it almost instantly, he was in no place to judge when it came to apathy about things that weren’t related to skating. It was how he’d been able to let certain comments slide off his back. “Well I guess if I stay at yours it also makes training easier, because we would end up leaving at the same time often enough.”

“What times are you used to doing training with proper coaching though.”

He looked down, it wasn’t something Jason was going to like, his training schedule seemed so strict that Tim’s assortment of times was going to make a mockery of the sport. “The truth is going to make you mad.”

“He didn’t do anything?”

“No, it was more a ‘when I can fit you in’ kind of thing lately, because he saw me more than anyone else other than the demon child. So sometimes it would be at 6am and then the next day he’d have like twenty minutes spare at 9pm so we’d squeeze some in there. It used to be better that’s just how it has been lately, but well you’d know because well you kind of helped drop the bomb that he had a kid with Talia.”

“I didn’t drop any bombs, I just implied the secret he already knew about could leak at any moment. Like he fucked with Talia’s career too, I feel like people haven’t really put the timeline together with that. Everyone he touches, aside from Dick, turns against him.” Jason said, Tim rubbing his hands together under the table. Talking about Bruce didn’t feel right, he was mad, how could he not be? But it could easily turn into bad mouthing for the sake of it, not ever actually getting to a better place themselves. Which meant Bruce would be right about him. “I will say, I feel like the primary focus is getting your head put together for the free program, you generally win the short and then the free is where you aren’t as composed. Your short program’s worst score for this season was a 101.75 at Four Continents, right? Which is higher than my best for the year.”

“Have you not cracked 100 points in the short this year?”

“I have, barely though, my triple axel as a singular jump has been really bad this year. In combination, it’s great but there’s issues with it in the short program.”

“It’s weird that you know what my lowest short program score is, I tend to focus on potential scores so I know what I need to do when everyone is at their best.” He couldn’t fathom how Jason had all those scores in his head, it wasn’t easy to remember every single one of his own scores because in truth he didn’t always agree with his scores, some days he felt like he skated better than what the judges gave him and other days he would say he did worse. It balanced out over time but it all depended on the judges and the competitions.

Jason snorted, seemingly amused by the turn in conversation. “I’m offended that you aren’t following my scores as closely as I am yours. You make a mockery of our rivalry Timothy.” It wasn’t the first-time Jason had referred to them as rivals, it was less aggressive than it used to be, but it wasn’t one that was about competing for the attention of a coach, even if he couldn’t seem to get the edge to hold a lead at the end of a competition they’d pushed each other to be better skaters despite living on separate continents.

“Not everyone can be the Rain Man of scores.”

“That’s not fair! I just have it all written down at home, I only know the most recent one because I was there.”

Tim couldn’t help making a face, he looked up the records and watched recent skates of competitors but scores was so specific, so debatable anyway that it seemed pointless. “Why? I’ve got binders of score sheets but I only have people that I was competing against.”

“Because the brain works in strange ways and it’s become a vice.”

“A vice? You drink and you definitely used to smoke how is being obsessive compulsive about scores training and diet a vice, wouldn’t it make you more stressed?”

“It’s complicated.” That smile, it made it seem like he was joking or poking fun rather than it actually being too complicated for him to explain.

“I can’t tell if this is revenge for my avoiding your questions at Arkham.”

“It’s not, I don’t understand how I got the itch for it but it keeps me focused and when winning gives you more than anything else can why wouldn’t you keep doing it, I guess it’s superstitious, like how footballers will go to an exact place for breakfast before a home game or they won’t have sex on game day or putting on the -”

Tim threw his hands up, an act of surrender. “I get it, don’t give me fifty analogies.” He chuckled, leaning back in his chair. This was probably bound to be a mistake, but at worst it would be a few weeks and they could decide it was a failed experiment that taught the figure skating world a lesson. First being don’t coach/be coached by your biggest competition, and second being don’t burn bridges back at your original rink.

If they screwed this up there was little to no chance that Bruce would take him back, although he wasn’t the first person he’d run to at this point anyway.

 

* * *

 

It took a week to find some sort of a groove and two weeks for the figure skating world to realise exactly where he was. In truth, he had overestimated the abilities of how die-hard fans managed to spread gossip like wildfire but two weeks still wasn’t all that much time. The call from Dick after a week had been an awkward one, the other just trying to figure out if he was ever coming back and then to give him a brotherly lecture about how this could end in disaster.

So far it had been fine though, they definitely didn’t agree on everything but there was a better balance of power. He wasn’t afraid to fight back with Jason. So far it hadn’t been yelling, more heated discussions under their breaths about how one or the other had no idea what they were talking about.

Jason wanted to hear him out each time though. A welcome change that made making adjustments make far more sense than they ever had with Bruce.

Living together had proven to be the hard part, he hadn’t been wrong about the apartment being tiny, which meant they were in each other’s space all too often but it had been the rearranging of items that had been the real challenge. The boxes hadn’t been a major issue, getting the mattress around everything had been. He wouldn’t say either of them got heated about it, but both of them at one point or another in having to move the desk and bookcase that sat in the living space said ‘fuck it’ and just laid on the mattress in the middle of the room.

Tim had even fallen asleep at one point, surely for no longer than ten minutes to find his body outlined with random books. Had it not been for Jason’s laughter as he took several pictures he wouldn’t have woken up. They both weren’t used to living with someone on a full time basis and in Tim’s mind at least it was working for him. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d lived with someone for more than a month at a time that wasn’t a nanny or a butler when his parents decided he just needed someone that could cook and clean. Ironically it felt like he’d had less freedom than when he was in high school because there was always someone there to check up on him.

He wasn’t going to lie it felt nice to have someone around, a year ago every time Jason spoke to him he still felt agitated and now he was actively enjoying Jason’s company. Regardless of whether they kept up the coaching arrangement, Tim had already been compelled to make the move more permanent, which meant spending his free time looking at apartments that he could actually move all of his own stuff into. “If we get a bigger place can we get a cat?” Jason uttered, the man hovering over his shoulder as he had twenty tabs open of different apartments or townhouses.

“We… that’s presumptuous.” He said, tilting his head back to look up at the other, for as much shit as Jason liked to talk about his bad eating habits he sure did have a fascination with yogurt pouches.

“You’re strictly looking at two or three bedroom places and you already said you don’t want to live alone, did I assume wrong?” He hadn’t, for as vaguely as they discussed things he wasn’t about to press Jason into moving unless he showed interest. After all, they’d barely been living together and in another two weeks they could be read to kill each other.

Why Jason felt that he could only have a cat if he moved somewhere bigger was beyond him. “Selina might give you one… she’d give me one, the past two times one of her cats has given birth she’s offered.”

“And you said no, that’s outrageous.”

Tim shrugged, there’d always been a reason as to why not get one. “My parents didn’t want me having a pet, claimed that because there are periods of the year no one would be at home it was cruel.

There seemed to be a small hum behind him, Tim focusing back on his computer in front of him. A place that appeared to be the right fit would come along soon enough, one that he wouldn’t have to worry about whether someone else was going to get it before they’d have the chance to move in. “That’s basically why I don’t have one now. I jokingly asked Talia if she’d take care of it when I was away if she wasn’t at competition with me.”

“Let me guess she threatened to drown it?”

“Not quite, just gave me this weird lecture like she is my parent.” Tim’s lips pressed into a line as he tried to hold back any laughter. He’d already witnessed that a few times, the dynamic of between Jason and his coach far more interesting than he’d thought. He had always assumed Talia and Ra’s were slave drivers who had their skaters doing eight hours of on ice training a day and then extra off ice work. Turned out that Jason was making himself do more hours on ice than needed and Talia was constantly chiding him, telling him he’d end up injured if he pushed himself too far.

Some probably would take it as her manipulating him but it seemed to work, made him take breaks when Jason had been going at it for too long. “Don’t worry once she stops being angry about you ‘wasting’ my time you’ll end up being the favourite child.”

“She has a son. Granted most people hate the brat but he is blood for her.”

A hand rested on his shoulder, patting it gently. He barely had to infer as to who he was talking about and Jason knew, whether it be Damian or Bruce. The names were able to fall out of his daily vocabulary. “She doesn’t like the things he does or says, which in all honesty he’s worse now than he used to be. Just you wait, she’ll warm up, I’ll lose my place as favourite in her eyes and then she’ll nag you about every single person you could possibly be interested in dating.”

“If one more person asks me about Conner I’ll scream.” He joked, pushing the hand away. Visibly cringing at the photos on his computer. Some people really didn’t know how to take pictures that made their houses look more flattering. “He has a thing for blondes, caught him and Cassie Sandsmark hooking up on the back of the bus between trips of a show. It made me realise dumb teenage shit happens regardless of whether you’re in the fishbowl of high school or not.”

“Oh, dumb teenage shit will happen if you’re not a teenager.”

“Obviously, I mean I feel like most of those that I came through Juniors with have always been pretty serious. Except for maybe Cassie and Steph.” Even the two of them were still pretty serious, he remembered watching Jason and the kids his age coming up into seniors and whilst they were all serious about skating they were all pretty goofy people off the ice.

There was that hand patting his shoulder again, this time it was certainly to make fun, the pats getting harder with each second. “It’s okay, I’ll bring out the inner four-year-old in you so you can experience a childhood.”

“You’re literally eating yogurt pouches.” Tim chuckled, pushing the hand away again, only for both of Jason’s arms to wrap around his head, squeezing as though he was trying to pop it.

“I wasn’t trying to say I was better, damn baby bird not everything is a competition.” Enough things were competitions, the smaller man slumping down in the chair to escape the other’s grasp, only for Jason to drop him the moment he started to lose grip, the momentum making Tim slide to the floor.

All he could hear was obnoxious laughter as Jason tried pushing the chair in. He truly did know how to be childlike at times. “Baby bird… haven’t heard that one in a while.” He said, finding it hard to not laugh at how this must have looked, it was stupid enough being the victim of this.

“What are you talking about I call you it all the time?” The chair stopped moving, but that was because he’d managed to make Tim wriggle back until he was under the desk completely. “Now it’s my turn to look at places.”

There was nowhere for him to move but thankfully Jason sat on the chair trapping him further by putting his legs under the desk. Couldn’t he just have sat sideways? In all fairness, he could just fight his way out. “Gross, some of these places are all tile flooring, do you know how cold it gets?”

“Yeah but they’re big.” He protested, resting his forehead against Jason’s knee.

And he thought how they were just moments ago looked strange. “That’s worse, it would be so hard to keep the place warm during winter. It snows here.”

“It snowed yesterday, you’re basically saying water is wet.” He retorted, flicking at Jason’s shins, he’d be able to annoy him to the point of being let out from under here in just a few minutes, he had to believe his patience was stronger than Jason’s. “I’m just looking for ideas anyway, it’s not like any of these are going to be available in a few months’ time. Gotta know what I want first though. Apparently, all you care about is a place with no tiles outside of the bathroom and enough room for a cat.”

“The cat should have its’ own room, which it will never sleep in because it thinks it’s a person and it wants to sleep with one of us.”

“That’s oddly specific.”

“Cats are weird, I don’t have any other explanation for it.” Jason flinched, almost kneeing him in the nose when Tim pinched his Achilles, the trapped man laughing softly to himself. “Stop it.” He whined, a hand swatting under the table as Tim pinched again.

“Stop it…” Tim mimicked, just happy to be getting some sort of a reaction out of Jason, it meant he’d either get out from under sooner or Jason would fight him which would make way for the opportunity for escape anyway.

“Unless you’re going to do something more entertaining for the both of us just sit pretty under there until my turn is over.”

Tim could feel the blush spreading across his face, thankful now that Jason couldn’t see him. “Don’t you get plenty of that from Roy?” He mocked, resting his back against the wall, using his feet to push Jason’s seat back until it teetered.

“Roy’s not as pretty Timbers. Don’t tell him I told you that because I don’t want to take a hockey puck to the hea-” That did the trick, Jason toppling backwards, too distracted by talking to realise just how far Tim had managed to angle the chair back. “I am taking back my offer to let you blow me.” Jason didn’t move as Tim crawled out from under the desk, the two of them smiling at each other as Tim stopped to stand.

“I think that might be a good thing, I don’t feel like fulfilling a porn trope for you.”

“But it’s the only reason I wanted to become your coach. Also, Roy and I haven’t ever done anything so you don’t need to get jealous.”

“I know, because if you could hook up with any guy it would be Dick Grayson.”

“How could you not? Especially Dick when he first switched to ice dance and was learning how to do all those lifts.”

“So, you hooked up with Dick?”

Laughter followed, Jason shaking his head as he started to get up, somersaulting backwards only for his feet and knees to hit the sofa. “Nope, he treats me the same way he treats you, as soon as he mentors someone he wouldn’t dare.”

Tim laughed, helping Jason up, resisting all temptation to let go of his hand and drop him again. “I don’t think I had the same fascination with Dick but for the longest time he treated me like a kid brother and when he didn’t anymore I less saw him as this unattainable entity that I was chasing and more like a stretched-out kid who had too much candy a lot of the time.”

“Well he adores you. I don’t think he would have let me yell at Bruce if it wasn’t for you.” He wouldn’t deny that, there was no use in doing so, Dick told him how much he loved him, it might have been in a familial aspect as well as a place of mutual admiration but it was a relationship that he knew deep down he couldn’t ruin even if he actively attempted to.

“He’s obsessed with trying to get me to do lifts with him, but I’m not into getting dropped by him.”

“You’re smaller than both Barbara and Kory so why the fear of being dropped?”

Tim rolled his eyes, leaning against the desk. “Because you’ve got to lift yourself in part and also you’ve got to put 100% faith in them, not dropping you and we’ve all seen compilation videos of bad falls… you’re featured in a lot of them.”

There’s a small noise that comes from Jason, Tim unable to tell if it was amusement or annoyance. “So that’s how Bruce teaches kids these days… or you’re a sadist that enjoys watching people get hurt.”

“Neither, I wanted to learn what not to do if that makes sense, because I like my knees, ankles and just my body in general.” There’s a nod, definitely understanding, although even explaining it made him sound like a sadist regardless. “Although I guess it’s ironic saying I like my knees when I’m jumping quads.”

 

* * *

 

**The Move Of The Cycle, Tim Drake Defects to Al Ghul’s Rink But Who is His Coach?**

_ Vicki Vale _

_ After the explosive video highlighting how there has been trouble in paradise for some time between Bruce Wayne’s team and current national champion Tim Drake. It didn’t take long for him to be spotted in Geneva, Switzerland. It was one of several places that was thrown around in gossip amongst fans  online, many arguing that Ra’s Al Ghul had been attempting to solicit Drake for years, although many pointed out that Drake had repeatedly rebuked suggestions and would likely join the Kents, keeping to a less foreign environment and with people that he is knowingly comfortable with. _

_ Well the mystery was solved by a few fans who were skaters at the Swiss rink that posted images of Drake on fan accounts, corroborated by an instagram story from rival Jason Todd of Drake asleep at the rink with the location tagged. _

_ The immediate assumption was that Ra’s Al Ghul was Drake’s coach for the remainder of the season, however, after a very brief conversation which resulted in this reporter being hung up on, Al Ghul denied that Drake had requested his coaching services. Thus attention turned to his daughter, Talia Al Ghul, coach of Todd and former coach and mother of Damian Wayne, who said; “That whilst Timothy has been a welcome and exciting presence, he has taken a more unconventional route for this Worlds competition.” She’d gone on to say that whilst she was willing to provide a support role she wasn’t his coach. _

_ This leaves us with many questions, regarding whether Drake has a coach or not, considering how he’d handled his loss at Four Continents I’d suspect that he has some sort of team behind him, however, there might be no official coach. One all too entertaining theory that came from twitter user @tjdfreaks, was that despite no one being entirely sure of the legality whilst being direct competition for each other, Jason Todd was his coach, as they have been seen together on ice and going to and leaving the rink most days. _

_ I suspect said theory is little more than just a theory but it was too juicy to share and their thread will be linked below. _

_ https://twitter.com/tjdfreaks/status/1094150268957089792 _

 

* * *

 

The ice is different, everyday it feels like something else, too hard, too soft, just not right for what he wants. In the morning he can’t land jumps sensibly and then come afternoon it feels bad for spinning regardless of whether it was freshly cut or not. It was early March already and he couldn’t get comfortable with what was supposed to be his home ice and in a month he was going to have to figure out how to skate on ice that possibly hadn’t even been laid early enough for it to have set right. 

Everything was just different.

He had more freedom with his practices and time sure, and the scheduling had worked so well right from the start but that didn’t mean he was comfortable, Bruce might have screwed it all up but it was something he’d begun to get used to, just as he’d gotten used to sitting in the car and finally letting out how frustrated and upset he was. Now, Jason was painstakingly making him show every single feeling, making him let it out in the moment even though really it just made him want to tell the other to fuck off. Something that Jason also actively encouraged. Talia seemed to at least be entertained, he couldn’t quite tell whether she actually was, but after he told Jason to ‘go have another grade 3’, she had a more obvious reaction. He wasn’t sure if it was because she found it funny but she said that it wasn’t half as bad as the things Jason had said to her over the years, or in the past week, a sign that she was perhaps warming up to him, despite his being another distraction for Jason.

Ra’s on the other hand, still looked perpetually seething with the situation, the fact that he was training at his rink but not under his coaching. So close to being in his grasp, another success to his legacy only for it to be snatched away by Jason, who’d been snatched away by his own daughter, constantly so close to the top skaters of this generation but always just missing out. There were moments Tim could see Ra’s watching him and Jason, glaring at the two of them, a look darkening whenever they seemed to be screwing around too much for his liking. He was sure there was at least one occasion that he’d gone to yell at them when their working on footwork had turned into Jason trying to lift him whilst Tim did everything he could to flee. They ended up having a low speed crash into the barriers when neither one of them were paying all that much attention.

He stopped at the barrier to take a drink, wiping sweat off of his face with the towel. Nothing felt right, so heavy, edge work that he could do in his sleep feeling unclean and sloppy. “You look like you’re fighting with every little element at all times in a runthrough.” He should have known from the sound of blades scraping to a stop that it was Jason, they were the only two who had their stuff over here and aside from the initial excitement, most seemed to have gotten used to his presence enough to not let it distract from their own training.

“I’m not fighting, I just am not-”

“Comfortable? You’ve been saying that for weeks, are you sure it’s not your body and mind being completely in sync?” It wasn’t direct, but he could pick up on what Jason was saying, that this was him putting blame on one thing because he needed it to be something other than him, for it to be something completely out of his control. “What are you scared of, other than crashing into the barrier again?”

There were plenty of things to be scared of, injury, embarrassment, people thinking they were right about him, Bruce and Damian being right. “It happening again, and then every time I go out to do this program like a curse, I can’t just come off like a cocky asshole like you can.” He’d never phrase it like that to Bruce, even though in his days as a pairs skater that was exactly how he’d seemed. Jason only laughed though, looking more understanding about the matter than he really had to. “I know Bruce is wrong about me, I know I’m capable of doing things I haven’t done yet, I don’t need a pep talk about that, I just need to think and figure out how to make this work, for every element to work on it’s own and then also work-”

“You’re overthinking, which yeah it makes sense because you’re, you, but you’re focusing on the wrong things. Every little detail doesn’t have to be perfect, this isn’t nationals so no one is going to get perfect scores, it’s better that it works together than you get a perfect Grade of Execution and full levels for your technical components.”

That certainly sounded like something that would stereotypically would be a mind game from a teenage girl who thought she was living in a movie. “I’m not worried about it being perfect, I do want all positive marks and all level 4s, but one thing that’s wrong affects everything else.”

“And you have a little under month to get it all right, but you need to want to win, rather than want to make sure people aren’t right about you.”

“Yeah, a month that’s not a long time.” He groaned, pushing away from the boards, glancing behind himself as he glided backwards. “Your pep talk sucked and was super ineffective by the way.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for all the lovely comments, they quite often make my day


	7. Chapter 7

Eyes were on him, well on both of them. It was something that was normal for official competition practices but Tim couldn’t help but feel uneasy, worried that any mistake would make him look like he’d lost form completely. That Four Continents hadn’t been a one off and that Bruce was right about him.

It would change the narrative entirely, people would start saying he’d been kicked out for the outburst even though all talk before had been his leaving by his own choice. Every mistake wouldn’t be costly but enough could be. Falls happened in practice and there’d been plenty from Conner in this practice but Tim chose to take it easy for the first two days of practice. Not risk an injury from a bad landing, having clean skates in competition and feeling prepared was more important than getting people talking if he had all his jumps clean or if he was a complete mess.

It was better to just be relaxed.

Meeting Bruce’s eyes in the second row of the stands wasn’t relaxing though, despite it being an ice rink, Tim felt all the warmth leave his body the moment he saw Bruce, noticed how as he moved Bruce seemed to be watching him.

Waiting for him to mess up, to get exactly what he wanted from him. To prove that he was completely washed up. Bruce didn’t coach anyone in the men’s senior division anymore, he had no purpose being here, there was no need for making notes to see how the US and Japanese teams were practicing and he wasn’t sitting with Iris West-Allen who was reporting on every little detail of the practices for international fans. Bruce had no reason to be here other than to get into his or Jason’s head.

It had Bruce that had gotten it into his head that he was the one to psych himself out of first place, yet every practice had felt fine, even this one had been good until his eyes had landed on Bruce. Now he felt like a nervous wreck, leaning into the boards as one of the Chinese skater’s music played for the runthrough. Jason stretching into a lunge against the barrier, as Talia talked softly to him, giving corrections from the runthrough.

“The hammer on the flip lends itself to looking weak, sure you get the ro- why is Bruce here? The ladies have a practice in less than two hours.” Jason’s head jerked across the rink, having to grip the boards to stop himself from falling from the sudden movement.

“I see we’re employing chapter 13 this year.” Jason mumbled as he stood, making the point to keep his back to Bruce.

Tim pursed his lips, shrinking back as the skater whose runthrough it was stepped out towards them. “Or chapter 3, know your enemy and yourself kind of thing.” Tim sighed, if Bruce was going to play mind games he had to just stay away, look everywhere but into the crowd, he wasn’t going to let himself get thrown off at the biggest competition of the season just because Bruce wanted to hide in plain sight.

He couldn’t let that happen.

He needed to be focused.

“Well he’s not going to say a word to you, I’ll make sure of it.” Jason grumbled, glancing around again, squinting as he stared at Bruce.

“How do you pl-” He was cut off, the announcer calling for Conner Kent’s runthrough with his to come next. “Just don’t do something stupid that will get us both into trouble with the federation or the skating union. There’s enough drama already without Bruce reporting us.”

How many questions had he already gotten about the coaching situation? Jason at least drew attention from him by being unpredictable, people wanted to know exactly what shenanigans he was getting into so if Tim just acted somewhat normal people would quickly look to Jason screwing around with his layout plans and doing other absurd things as though he wasn’t taking World Championships seriously.

If there was anyone taking this competition serious it was Jason Todd, it was why he had Talia recording both of their runthroughs, analysing the mistakes that were made, making mental notes of what the scores would be despite the marking of elements here or there, until he decided it was late enough to sleep.

He would have done three laps of the rink at best before he was called for his runthrough, taking centre ice, biting his lip as he waited for the music, and waited, and waited… tension ran through his shoulders and arms, allowing them to drop and straighten his body up. What the hell was this practice?

Step away from Bruce Wayne for five minutes and music mistakes are being made. He’d never had that happen before. “We’re having a technical issue with the music, we’re not going to be able to do the last two runthroughs for this practice.” He could feel his face scrunch up almost involuntarily, hands on his hips as he moved over to the boards, taking his US team jacket back and zipping it up to his neck.

“Relax, you’ve got one more official practice tomorrow and the draw is tonight, mistakes happen.” Despite how calm Talia sounded he could see the fire behind her eyes, pissed off about the mishap, mistakes happen but not like this, not mistakes that result in runthroughs getting cancelled.

God the only exit they were using was right near where Bruce was sitting. “Can I have my guards, there’s no use in doing the full practice if I can’t do my short program.” He uttered, taking the blade guards the second they were held out to him… if it weren’t for the fact he’d find himself in trouble if he climbed over the barriers, he’d also get more attention than he could possibly want.

Leaving practice early would lead to some questions but people would likely take it for what it was and that he was irritated by the music issues.

At least he hoped.

\--- 

God he hated skating first, hated skating last too but first meant waiting, worrying that even your best isn’t enough whilst five others skated after you, five of the best in the world, skating first meant it was completely out of your control. Whilst when he skated last Tim always couldn’t shake the feeling that it was no one’s fault but his own when he didn’t win.

It was the short program though, his specialty, certainly his specialty this year, some would call him a choker but not when it came to the short program. He was first, Jason was fifth, it meant he wouldn’t sit with him in the kiss and cry but he’d sworn he’d be there for him before the warm up and had kept to that word, the two of them warming up together, barely talking but still seeming to be on the same wavelength, Jason knew what he wanted and needed and seemed to do it without Tim having to open his mouth, the two of them spending the first two groups throwing a ball around, Tim remaining silent whilst Jason would utter words of encouragement that were more related to their lazy game than the competition.

But now skating around the ice, hearing the murmurs of the crowd under the music that was blaring, they always played the same songs during the warm ups and whilst he didn’t really listen to them it almost felt like it was apart of the competition ritual that without it he’d be more of a nervous mess than he normally was. A stupid bundle of nerves always ready to break with a moments notice.

He didn’t have enough speed, but let himself go into the inside 3-turn out of instinct driving his toe pick into the ice, his body tightening as he rotated, awkwardly spotting his height to open up early, it might have only been a triple and he might have landed slightly too far forward on his toepick but he saved it, it wasn’t perfect but he needed the skate to be perfect not the warm up, Jason would say he didn’t need to be perfect, he just needed to have a good skate, that the short program wasn’t everything. But who was Jason to talk, he’d always had incredibly strong free programs, no, unbeatable free programs, however, even Jason had said if anyone could beat him it was Tim.

“Skaters you have one minute left in your six minute warm up.” it was clear as a bell, one minute until everyone else was off the ice, a minute and a half until his music needed to start and four minutes and twenty seconds until it was out of his hands and in everyone else’s, especially the judges. That is until the free skate. But still medals were handed out for winning the short and free programs at worlds, which meant it was still important to bolster his score as much as he possibly could.

It was instinctual, running through a small part of his step sequence, marking the twizzles and shaking the tension out of even his fingertips. Lifting his eyes to see Jason land a jump, eyes forward, focused and not smiling, he’d switched on even though he still wouldn’t be skating for almost half an hour, a long time to stay focused but Jason was Jason and Tim didn’t doubt he could do it.

Just as Jason said he believed in him, and was genuine about it, perhaps not as kind as Dick was but he hadn’t gone to Jason for kindness. “This concludes the six minute warm up, could all skaters leave the ice.”

He skated towards the exit, removing his jacket as he and Jason moved side by side. “You’ve got this, make sure to check your jumps one of the corners feels soft and don’t stress about the running edge on landings.”

He felt his tongue run over his top lip as he nodded his head slowly, throwing the jacket over the barrier. “Just be clean…”

“No, kill it… but don’t break my record.”

Kill it… that was different to being clean, it was asking, well telling him to have a perfect performance rather than being technically perfect. Everyone was off the ice, which meant the thirty second timer started, taking a twenty seconds to skate around, filling it with a few steps and a half flip before moving to the centre ice, glancing at the timer, five seconds before he’d get a deduction for a late start.

A small breath escaped him the moment before the music started, his body moving with the music without having to think about it, so much of it was muscle memory at this point, Jason had said he needed to not think so hard but that wasn’t the easiest of things to do.

As soon as he hit the 3-turn and crossed his left foot in front of the right he could tell the jump was going to float, springing off the ice, it was slightly higher than normally spotting the forth rotation and opening his body to slow himself before landing. It hit the outside edge almost too easily leading into the choreography before the combination jump.

For how dodgy the toeloop had felt in the warm up, that had felt fine. Quad toe triple toe, he’d been doing it for years, didn’t have to think too hard about it, the quad rotating fine, however, he found himself scrunching his nose slightly at the triple, there was nothing obviously wrong with it but that slight hook on the outside edge as he landed… that would get reviewed for being under rotated.

He couldn’t dwell on it… starting with the flying camel spin, one hand up for the first few rotations before drifting it down and back as the free leg bent towards his hand, linking two fingers between the blade and the heel of his boot, the donut never quite felt right this year but as he allowed himself to let go and finish the spin in an upright position, the tension that had started to pain him flew right back out of him.

Sit spin… a cannonball into a broken leg spin on the opposite foot, eight rotations, a rotation as he changed positions and then seven more, it was a level 4 but missing that last rotation might cost some point in GOE.

The axel didn’t come not long after, a spread eagle entrance, practically throwing himself into the air as he took off, three and a half, natural… easy… a foot down after the running edge was held for long enough to go into another spread eagle, allowing it to glide off the outside edge into the inside, Tim biting back as smile, two elements left the step sequence and a change foot combination spin. 

He was lying if he didn’t say he already felt tired. Still he had to dig in… prove he still had it, his head turning sharply towards the judges table in the moment that he paused before the step sequence started, they had to be watching him, but to get a bigger score they had to want to watch him, his expression shifting, less hard, softer, as though competing this pattern was something he did in his sleep.

God if he had a fall on the step sequence that would be way worse than the five falls on jumps at four continents, step sequences where were he rarely got lower than 2s in GOE.

Maybe people thought it looked feminine but it also looked easy and that was what was supposed to be impressive about it, that even though a two minute and fifty second piece was exhausting with so few moments to breathe he looked like he didn’t have to think. The edges were clear and deep, rotations and upper body movement moving together, it was controlled and precise without looking like he was focusing every last ounce of energy into it.

Now the spin- and then he could stop, and crash if needs be. Four positions, and he’d be done, barely even counting the rotations, just waiting for the right notes in the music to switch pulling out of it and coming to a stop perhaps a little late but that might have been the dizziness.

Tim pressed his tongue into his cheek as he smiled, almost laughing to himself, as he made his way back into the middle of the rink, facing the judges first and bowing, turning in the other three directions and bowing before he made his way to the exit… there were a lot of gifts and flowers being thrown onto the ice, several sweepers already one the ice gathering them, Tim scooping up a stuffed toy in the shape of a takeaway coffee cup, it was as big as his head, only shaking his head as he laughed at it.

“That was fantastic…” Talia stood in front of him as he stepped off the ice, handing him his guards and providing support as he slipped each on, guiding him to the kiss and cry, only handing the jacket over once they sat down, Tim undeniably feeling grateful that the music was loud enough as the replays started playing that the mics wouldn’t pick up what they had to say. “Considering what happened in practice, you looked more comfortable out there than you have in weeks.”

“Yeah, aside from that weird little hook on the landing of the triple toe it all felt right.” He uttered, wiping some of the sweat away from his mouth as he spoke, it muffling his voice slightly. “After the axel I was like if I die on a step sequence that will be more embarrassing than anything else in my career.”

He can see Talia smile out of the corner of his eye, she would have been better off with Jason given he was actually her skater but he was sure the other had made sure he had someone familiar enough to meet him. To say they’d all secretly been bracing for the worst was an understatement. “Worse things could-” She paused at the cameras switched back to them, Tim putting on one of his more genuine smiles as he waved, not saying too much, the crowds clapping getting louder. “Don’t forget  _ they _ love you… regardless the score.”

“The scores please-” A hush quickly fell over the crowd, Tim feeling his fingers tap out each second on his knee as they waited, everyone holding onto their breath.

 

Timothy Drake – USA

TES: 60.79 PCS: 48.26 Deduction: 0.00

SP: 109.05

First

Seasons Best

 

Seasons best but also a career best, Tim finding himself on his feet waving. It was a tough score to beat, the third highest score ever recorded and the two ahead were from last season, were scores by Jason last season.

Solidly in first with five of the best in the world to skate, with one person who was a known threat to take leading the short program from him.

\---

“I said no lifts…” Tim whined as Jason practically picked him up as he hugged him, the other laughing in his ear. “Are you happy because I did well in the short or because you finally ended your ongoing relationship with the single axel?”

“Well is an understatement and you know it.” Maybe that’s true, he’d watched everyone that followed him, everyone but Jason had a fall, missed the combo or lost levels. They’d both been clean and yet he still finished over four points ahead of Jason.

It wasn’t a big gap when their seasons bests in the free had a bigger point gap but that didn’t matter. How many times had Jason repeated that it only mattered what happened on the day, neither of their previous records meant anything. As the toes of his shoes scraped the ground Tim wriggled out of his grasp, laughing softly at how Jason held a hand of his heart. They’d have to file out from behind the backdrop they were hiding behind, sit in their rankings for the short program and pretend to be alert enough for the press conference.

It wasn’t even five yet, the pairs competition would start in another hour but he honestly could just hide under a table and take a nap. God, they’d still have to have a meeting to go over what happened, he’d say there was no rest for the wicked but he couldn’t pretend like it was anyone’s fault but his own for waking up before six this morning.

“Are you going to talk like a real person for the first time in your life or will you short circuit and speak in binary?” The robot jokes had made a comeback, how long had it been, five minutes since he’d heard one of them?

It was so easy to just tell Jason to fuck off, or hit him with several other insults. “I prefer to say meep morps, than the zeros and ones. But if you’d like I can let you touch my small medal for a short program once we get them, i know you haven’t held one in your hands for over a year.”

He bites his lip as Jason turns him around, hands at his waist, pushing him towards the edge of the backdrop for the press conference, the staff running it beckoning for them to come on. “I’ll take all the credit for this cockiness, thank you.” The hands drop as soon as Tim pops out from behind the backdrop shuffling between the table and the backdrop until he was at the centre most seat. Garth on his left and  Jason on his right, God he looked smug, despite not leading right now.

It started off with the standard questions asking them how they felt about their skates and the scores, everyone giving the same standard answers they normally gave. Jason maybe gushing about finally getting the triple axel clean again a little more than expected. However, the question he’d prepped himself for since stepping foot in Oslo followed shortly after. “This one is for Tim, can you elaborate on your coaching situation as Talia Al Ghul has stated she’s only working in a support capacity?”

His eyes flickered to Jason, he didn’t go in to say anything, no surprises there, Jason had joked that he was going to make Tim answer all questions about coaching and he should have known he was serious about answering them initially. “That’s true, I- there’s no way to make this sound uncomplicated. Jason Todd is currently my coach, which has been cleared by the federation and skating union.” All it took was a moment to look at the group of reporters and how their eyes shifted from him to Jason, Tim trying his best to keep a straight face as Jason sat there shaking his head and laughing. “Yeah so that’s who I went to after leaving the Gotham Rink.”

He can see Jason’s trying to formulate a response, trying to settle down the laughter, as he tries to cut off any questions. “This was an offer I made some time ago, and I’ve had the accreditation for over two years… however, what matters is that a skater feels comfortable and supported, at this level any one of us knows what will and won’t do well, we need people we trust around that will make sure we maintain our training and will keep us from taking risks that are too great.” There it was, a public dig at Bruce Wayne, his name didn’t need to be said but everyone would know exactly who that comment was directed at.

Any other reporter seemed to want to ask further questions about the coaching, the moderator looking like she was losing control of it quickly, ending it almost ten minutes earlier than scheduled. Tim standing and stretching, unable to fight back a yawn. “Well that went better than expected, no one asked about a certain enemy’s opinion.”

“I’m sure he has one. Although the demon will voice it.”

Jason let out a whistle, poking Tim in the side as they made their way towards the rink, at least that was his thought, the poking seeming more to be to push him in a new direction. “Please tell me how you really feel.”

“I think you’re in the mood for drama even though we have a free program tomorrow night and won’t skate until like midnight if we’re lucky.” He chuckled, grabbing the finger before he could be poked again. “If you don’t want to watch pairs just say it, stop being annoying.”

There’s no struggle as Jason freed his fingers from his grip, Tim biting back any snide remarks. “I would have thought- oh joy, want to really get your feelings out now?” the shift in demeanour is sudden, Jason barely having looked behind them for a second but he didn’t need to guess at who was nearby. “You’d think he would have gotten the message after Talia told him to leave you alone.”

“Great, I think the coach bomb dropping changes things… I’m going to see if I can find the seats my parents got.” Jason gripped his arm, stopping him from leaving. “Jay, I don’t want to hear what-”

“He’s not going to get the chance to speak to you.” Jason’s grip doesn’t relent as Tim tried to jerk his arm free, turning and standing half a step behind Jason, Tim watching out of the corner of his eye as Bruce barely opened his mouth before Jason cut him off. “No, you don’t get to speak to him.”

Tim felt himself stiffen, tension mounting as Bruce seemed to be waiting for one of them to say something more. He wouldn’t speak, wouldn’t so much as utter the name Bruce Wayne unless he had to. The best way to show someone you were above them was to act as though you didn’t think of them much and whilst that was impossible, he could at least avoid Bruce at all costs. “In fact, if you show up at another practice without someone to coach, try and corner or even offer congratulations to  _ my skater _ , I’ll report you for interfering with another skater.”

“You think you can play politics, he’ll come home once he realises the grass isn’t greener.” Cold, Tim shifting his eyes forward, at the wall as he gripped Jason’s wrist, pulling the hand off of his arm.

His feet stayed in place, despite wanting to get the hell away from Bruce he was willing to hear whatever it was Jason had to say. “The only person who’s coming to terms with the fact that they made a huge mistake is you, you didn’t enjoy that did you? Being unable to take complete responsibility for a career best score, having a junior world champ who barely won, didn’t touch either of our junior world records in the past two years either.”

“And he’s from a practically non existent federation whilst you two are from one of the big four, that effects judging.”

Tim couldn’t help but laugh, still keeping his eyes away on the wall away from Bruce. “Please, he’s a student of you and your blood, everyone knows that name carries more weight than USFSA or any other fed.” He didn’t wait a beat before turning completely around and leaving, Bruce wasn’t getting the last word in, he wasn’t going to play that game anymore and if Jason wanted to keep arguing then he wasn’t going to stop him.

Bruce was a brick wall, the proof was in their own personal histories with him and whilst making snide comments every now and then held a certain appeal. He’d rather not play these games like he was a high schooler, he’d left high school less than halfway through his freshman year to have more time on his career and the best part was he’d left a lot of the high school bullshit behind him.

Twenty-seven that’s how many steps it takes for Jason to get in whatever his version of the last word is and catch up to him, linking his arm around Tim’s. “I can’t believe you’d abandon me with him.” Jason huffed, now letting Tim lead the way. “You’d think we’d get to wait until next season for the mind games to start.”

“We literally referred to the Art of War in practice and you thought this shit was going to wait?” Tim sighed, glancing over his shoulder to see that at least they weren’t still being followed. “Either he thinks I can’t do it, or he doesn’t want me to be able to do it without him.”

“It’s the latter, and even when I win you’ll still have proven that you’re better without him than with him.” When not if, because Jason liked to tease him. When not if, because the reality was Jason had to still put Jason first. When, because if he really beat Jason everyone would blame him for Jason not winning.

_ Everyone... even he wouldn’t be able to pretend like it wasn’t his fault. _

“Just be glad you’re not skating last tomorrow.” God, his mouth was dry, and he’d so quickly gone into that practiced robotic manner of speaking. Something he’d avoided doing at all costs lately because it made it obvious that there was something wrong, that he was either upset or uncomfortable. So quickly he’d gone from being guarded and impossible to read to being completely transparent, to any vulnerability being obvious even when he acted the same as he’s always had. He’d allowed himself to look weak once and now people could see his weakness the moment he started to doubt himself. “Why do you hate skating last so much? First I get because it’s hard to watch and wait to see if and who will beat you but last means it’s only in your hands.” So he was just going to continue the conversation, not call him out even in a playful manner. Either Jason wasn’t paying enough attention or he was choosing to ignore it for his own reasons.

_ Sabotage. _

Ridiculous, Jason wasn’t out to sabotage him and if he was he’d run a better gaslight than he was, Tim trusted him because he didn’t tell him every little step, because the advice was more about being stronger not better. He needed to answer, the small squeeze of his arm told him as much. “It’s in your hands, if you lose it’s no one’s fault but your own.” He uttered, each word almost feeling like it was being forced out of his mouth. “I like skating third, I’m just more comfortable there.”

“But you score better when you skate first and last, like historically speaking.”

He took a deep breath, trying to ignore whatever doubts wanted to creep in. “I also fall six times and fall off podiums though.” The entire sentence came out as he exhaled, earning another gentle squeeze at his arm.

“And the lesson from that was the boards are not our friend in the middle of the program.” He was forced to stop, god even when he thought he was leading the way Jason didn’t even have to try and he was able to drag him around. “You’re starting to freak me out, what’s going through your head right now.”  Jason turned him so easily, gripping both of his arms, the touch firm but so careful.

Any playful energy was gone now. “It’s nothing.”

The grip got tighter, only just but he could still notice it. “Oh no, we don’t do that.”

“It’s nothing, stop reading into noth-”

“Tim! if you say nothing it’s going to keep bothering you, tell me so I can help.”

He looked left, right, there were few people around and none of them were paying any attention to them. “Everyone’s going to blame me.” He barely got any sound out, but the look on Jason’s face told him that he’d heard the five words.

“Who the fuck cares?” Of course Jason wasn’t phased by it because even though he was just as much apart of this if he wouldn’t be the one everyone thought was responsible. 

For how long had he only ever let things out in private, and now he was having confrontation after confrontation. “You don’t get it.”

“No, I don’t. You need to explain it to me.” How was he supposed to explain it? He’d either sound crazy or as though he was trying to get attention. All Bruce had to say was a few words, and it had him second guessing himself. Second guessing his abilities.

Jason let go of him, waiting expectantly but with each second that passed he seemed to be more aware that Tim didn’t have an answer, well more that he wasn’t willing to explain it. “We’re going to talk later then. You said you wanted to see your parents tonight, after that we’re talking. You aren’t going into the free skate head fucking yourself for being in first.”


	8. Chapter 8

**From: Jason**

_ When youre done come to my room _

_ Received 9:54pm _

Fuck, so he’d been serious about having a talk. He didn’t need another crappy pep talk, to be told that he was great, he knew he was a great skater, he wouldn’t have the scores or the medals he already had if he wasn’t. However, he didn’t have the blind confidence that he was just going to end up on top like Jason had.

Jason didn’t get it, but that was because Jason’s relationship with Bruce had been different, because he’d come back and been on top whilst Tim couldn’t even win a championship gold medal. He kept telling him that he was allowed to be vulnerable and have doubts but the moment he did the almost ended up having an argument.

He still had to go talk to him, though didn’t he? Jason would wait up, would text him or show up at his hotel room door if he didn’t do as he was told. Even if Jason didn’t understand perhaps if he just explained it then he wouldn’t be stuck feeling guilty.

It would have been 11 by the time he got back to his room, changing quickly from his clothes from dinner into sweats and a hoodie. Well it wasn’t really all that quick because he dragged his feet enough that it took him twenty minutes to get in get dressed and walk three doors down the hallway. Only knocking twice before the door was flung open, Tim taking half a step back more out of shock than anything else. There was a part of him that had hoped Jason had crashed by now.

Neither one spoke as Tim stepped into the room, his eyes forward, the room was certainly messier than what he was used to seeing for Jason, clothes spilling out of his suitcase, an open book on the nightstand facing down and his laptop and notebook on the bed looking like they’d been thrown aside in a rush. Perhaps Jason had just expected him to ignore the message. “What happened earlier? You went from being happy to looking completely rattled within a split second, and I thought it might have been because of Bruce but he didn’t say anything remotely unexpected for him.” So they were just diving in, no asking how his night was, no avoiding the real reason Jason wanted him here by talking about his short program.

It was straight to the crux of the issue and Tim knew he should have known that was how Jason would approach it but he couldn’t help feeling taken aback. “It’s stupid and ridiculous and you’ll think I should have a thicker skin.” He said softly, sitting on the edge of the bed, playing with his fingers in his lap.

“That’s probably true, but that doesn’t mean I don’t want to understand how you let nerves and other things take over even if it’s little things.” Soft spoken, understanding, so jarring from the guy that was either cold and serious or just wanting to fool around.

This side would have been frightening if he hadn’t encountered it a few times before. “You saying you were going to win tomorrow like it was a sure thing… it’s not that it made me not trust you. I just- it was the first time it hit me since getting here that if you didn’t win and I did, I’d be blamed for you losing.” That shouldn’t have been that hard to get out, he didn’t know why it was difficult to say when he’d admitted far more serious things before.

“As I said before, who cares? If you win it’s because you were better than anyone else, just like you were today.” Tim shook his head, Jason still didn’t get it, or he did but he was going to make him explain every minute detail of what was going on in his head.

“You think Talia, reporters, literally anyone in the sport will care? People know now, they’re going to think if you have any flaws it’s because I’m a distraction from your training and needs.”

There was a pained expression there, it was only brief but he could see that even if there words weren’t harsh they hurt Jason. Because it was a truth that none of them wanted confront. “But if we both break the world record and yours happens to be higher than mine, how is that your fault?”

There was a point in that, if they were both perfect and the judges happened to think his elements were stronger than Jason’s then why should he be blamed. But if Jason screwed up it was going to be a whole other story. “You think logic and reasoning matters? I don’t want to spend the rest of my career apologising for any and all victories I have.”

“Apologise? Hey, no, you and no one else should ever have to apologise for winning. Especially you.” Tim let out a shaky breath, didn’t know what to think. It was so easy for Jason to say he didn’t have to apologise for winning, Tim could count on one hand the amount of times the other hadn’t won an entire competition. “And if people talk shit on you the moment you beat me, well then I’ll make twenty fake Stan accounts defending you.”

There was a stiff silence, Tim not knowing what to do or say and Jason waiting for any kind of response, the both of them finally laughing softly. “I can’t not feel a certain way, I know you think I’m dramatic and crazy but-”

“But nothing, I’m not saying you can’t feel that way or be scared of people’s reactions. Just remember your success makes me look good and I won’t ever resent you for getting to stand a step above me on a podium.” An arm went around him, pulling him close, Tim resting his forehead on Jason’s shoulder. It was intimate, comfortable, managed to ease the tension within his own body. “So many people believe you’re amazing no matter who your with, if it’s got something to do with Bruce and the insane shit he used to say, think about all the people you know believe in you.”

“It’s got nothing to do with him.” He groaned, letting his head drop slightly, his hair falling in front of his eyes. “Did I want him anywhere near me? No. But it was just the way we were both talking when it suddenly hit me what people were going to say.”

“Well I’m sorry for contributing to that. But I’m still gonna win.”

He was ridiculous, Tim slipping out of his grip and standing. “Oh my god, fuck off.” Well he didn’t entirely slip out of his grip, a hand sitting at his hip whilst the other hand had grabbed his wrist, then there was that look, Jason looked conflicted and it definitely wasn’t about the conversation they just had. “If you try to hook up with me every time I’m sad or freaking out at an event you’ve missed a lot of opportunities in the past.”

For once Jason looked like he was speechless, his mouth opening then closing twice, Tim biting his tongue as he held back any laughter. “Stay.” One word, that was all he got, Tim cracking as he started to laugh. “Not for that.”

“I know, it would be inappropriate.” He uttered, glad that he was laughing otherwise he’d end up sounding bitter. “But if you think I’m going to cuddle with you then you’re dead wrong.”

“Stay.” Again, still more of a request than a demand, softer this time though, as though it was less about something that Jason wanted and more for Tim. “It’s almost midnight, sleep in here and if you start overthinking again then at least I can try comfort you.”

“You’re full of it”

“Not at all.” They’d shared a bed a time or eight before, watching movies and one or the other crashing, it was how he’d learnt Jason liked to cuddle and oh could it be smothering, Tim waking multiple times with Jason laying on top of him pinning, arms still around his midsection as though he was a pillow.

That was something he didn’t exactly want a repeat of tonight.

If he was going to sleep it needed to be a decent night’s sleep regardless of how late in the evening the free skate was going to be. If he said no Jason would drop it, but truthfully he wanted to stay. “Just no attempted murder and I’ll stay.” He said, letting Jason’s hand slip into his, putting no thought into how they both automatically laced their fingers together.

“I’ll make no promises.” If the season was over his next move would be different, he’d put the banter aside and say what they both knew. But they still had one more skate, and then there was the rest of this competition. They needed to avoid the conversation for a few more days at least. The time would come to reprioritise, as Jason had put it one night.

It was why he shouldn’t be sleeping in here when he had his own room he was paying for, when Jason would deliberately keep him within arm’s length, almost always touching him in private, in public half the time even, even if it was relatively innocent. They were still coach and skater and even if he couldn’t get rejected for being a drunk mess, there was an equally valid reason now. “I-”

The hand dropped from his hip, Jason’s relaxed expression fading. “You should go back to your room, it was a dumb idea.”

He didn’t even get the chance to say it himself.  It almost made Tim want to argue, fight him that they could both control themselves, but he could see it on the other’s face, he wasn’t the one that would be a problem, Jason was. “Your do the right thing, attitude isn’t going to keep working.” He said softly, putting a finger under the other’s chin, tilting it up for Jason’s eyes to flick away from him. There was a shyness there, one that only came out because they both knew Jason couldn’t be upfront about what he wanted. “I get why, but you’re the one that suggested…”

“I know, but we can’t, that’s why it was stupid to even suggest-”

“It’s stupid to even be talking about this right now. It’s not an abuse of power we’re both adults and it’s not like you have an overwhelming amount of power over me. You think I get in my own head, any time you start to initiate anything between us, you get all weird.” He wasn’t trying to embarrass or overwhelm the other, it was the truth in the matter, if Tim ever tried to fool around it would be stopped before it went too far but if Jason was the instigator he’d be far more awkward about stopping them. “I can’t believe I’m the one saying this, relax and get some sleep because we have practice in the morning.”

He got a smile, a small one but it was still a smile. “You’re right, in most aspects… but you also have no leg to stand on when it comes to sleeping at appropriate times, or places.” That was the side that he’d rather see, Tim laughing as he pushed the other playfully. “Just make sure to wake up in time for practice.”

 

* * *

 

Why did he feel so stiff? Moving was fine, but there was something in his stretches that just didn’t feel right, was he able to get into them? Yes. Could he get out of them? Not easily. Especially from his middle split, there wasn’t a chance he was going to be able to get into an over split without whining.

Even Jason pressing on his hips and the small of his back wasn’t helping, Tim making small noises of complaint any time he even eased into it. “Jesus Christ, if you’re in pain then we’ll stop stretching it.”

“It doesn’t hurt.” He mumbled, pushing up onto his elbows, rolling his eyes at the noise of disbelief behind him. “Like it’s not pain it just feels tight once I’m in it.”

The hands at his hips pressed harder, Tim almost falling on his face as he hissed. “Are you seriously risking your free skate on a middle split right now?” The hands withdrew, Tim curling one leg around, and then the other. “What’s wrong?”

Of course, something had to be wrong if he was taking a risk. Well technically his feeling tight was something that was wrong but Jason was clearly thinking it was something more. “It’s probably just nerves, I feel fine in my own head, it’s just none of the stretches feel good, like if it was a practice day it feels like a bad day.”

Jason made a small noise, he couldn’t quite tell what it was supposed to mean but he couldn’t help but feel relieved that Jason didn’t scold him or try and say he was lying. “Well there’s no worse a day to feel like it’s going to have a bad day, well except for the Olympics. So move on from stretching, we’ll do other things to warm up and if the six minute warm up feels like a mess, go to the second layout. It’s your call though.” That wasn’t quite as harsh as it could have been, telling him to trust his instincts but not advising him to outright play it safe. There would be no trusting a comment like that.

He turned over onto his back, staring up at the other. Jason looked fidgety, he’d say nervous almost even though he knew that the other oozed confidence on the ice or well cockiness. “Are you feeling okay? Don’t tell me you’re nervous.”

“I’m not nervous, I know I’m going to win, you’re the idiot I am concerned about.” Any other time had he said that he would have thought Jason was trying to get into his head but what was to gain in doing that anymore. If he had a bad skate it would reflect poorly on Jason as well now. “Put some music on and get to work, we’re going to need to put our skates on soon. If i see you even working on spirals I’m gonna break your pinkie.”

Well that was extreme… Tim got up and did as he was instructed, giving a mocking two fingered salute as he took several steps backwards towards his bag. There wasn’t too long before they’d be getting called out for the warm up, Jason was probably right to tell him to move on from stretching, to get his blood pumping and into decent heart rate zones, slipping a pair of headphones on and starting a slow jog, up and down the twenty-metre space that had been cleared out for them.

His legs felt heavy, but were slowly getting better, it was just like he needed to shake them out, to not focus on them like they were a potential injury but a result of nervousness. It was his mind’s way of tricking his body. He had to believe he was going to be fine, because there were other people believing in him, people that didn’t have to.

Twenty minutes passed, focusing on himself, doing light exercises, keeping himself alert as he avoided listening to anything, barely hearing the music he had blaring, even though he could feel his mouth moving along to the lyrics. Only stopping when Jason waved him over, neither one spoke, he simply handed him his skates and gestured to a seat, Tim putting the hard guards onto his blades first, being careful as he put on each skate, left boot then the right, tightening each one and testing them. Slightly too loose on the right, untying them and fixing the spot in the middle of the boot.

There was a long period between the warm up and his skate but it would be fine, he’d manage it effectively, ignore the crowds and listen to music, stay behind the curtain until he was needed and then keep his head down and his back to the rink until he stepped onto the ice, he’d only be forced to hear one score before his skate and that would be Conner who’d ended up in the final group by the skin of his teeth. Sixth through thirteenth had all been within 2 points of each other and somehow Conner had ended up on the top of that pile.

He was happy for him but it meant there was more risk in his own skate, if Conner had a rough skate he could have a big drop and if Tim had a repeat of Four Continents then they could lose a spot at next year’s worlds. That felt like more pressure.

_ Four Continents was an outlier. _

_ Fucked circumstances and an even worse result. _

He flinched as one of the ears of his headphones were grabbed, stretching the capabilities of the plastic. “You’re right, but stop talking out loud to yourself.” Oh, wow… now that was slightly embarrassing. “You were muttering it, but you look crazy.” He could hear the smile in Jason’s voice, just how amused the other was by his muttering.

“I’m an artist, we’re supposed to be crazy.” Tim mumbled, adjusting how the tie of his laces sat.

“You’re also an athlete, but you don’t really play into that stereotype, do you?” Tim couldn’t help but nudge Jason with his elbow, rolling his eyes at the other.

 

* * *

 

The cheer when Jason’s score had been announced had been loud, they were always loud about Jason but it was on a whole other level to Jason just getting a regulation score. It was either well out in front or a record, which likely meant both. His music hadn’t been up too loud but the headphones generally blocked out any sort of cheering, kept him from getting too nervous. He just had to keep his eyes down to stay focused, ignoring the camera and everyone else talking to their coaches, regardless of the score Jason would avoid doing any press so he could be there, he’d made a guarantee of that if he skated after him and it wasn’t one after another. It wouldn’t be instantaneous, no matter how much he would have liked it to be but he could be patient, there were still two more before him and it wasn’t always easy to predict how long the judges would take to review all of the elements.  

It could be twenty minutes before he first stepped onto the ice, it could be closer to fifteen, every second of being focused and calm, most importantly calm mattered.

A year ago, he would have been a mess, pacing around as he attempted to not melt down entirely, words from Bruce bringing no comfort because they weren’t things you said to a kid who was already prone to being a nervous wreck. He hadn’t even been bad at worlds last year but he’d been so anxious that if he didn’t win Bruce was going to pass him up that it had caused him to sacrifice marks that should have been easy because he’d been so focused on not falling and failing.

That was last year. It was in a whole other country with several different judges on the panel.

This year he needed to prove so much more, and the only person that wasn’t in any way important would have to watch him from the stands or on a screen rather than rink side. He hoped it was killing Bruce and maybe that was spiteful, but he had to get past trying to be golden boy, that was Dick and no one was ever going to match that.

_ But Tim was pretty great too. Still is pretty great some would say. _

Jason would definitely say so, and his opinion mattered more now. He forced himself to squat down, rocking slowly on his blade guards as his fingertips brushed along the ground. It definitely felt better than earlier. This probably wasn’t great for his guards but hey, it was the end of the season he’d buy new ones if he needed them after Worlds.

The two pairs of shoes stopping right in front of him were unmistakeable, Jason’s ‘nice sneakers’ that he used only at competitions so he was never caught wearing shoes that looked old and worn when it mattered and Talia’s boots. Standing was even easier than getting down, Jason giving him a small thumbs up, it was a question, checking on him rather than confirmation that he’d gotten the job done once again.  

Tim returned it, offering a half smile as he squeezed his shoulder blades together. It probably wasn’t the best idea but he pulled the headphones off, polite cheering signifying that a jump had been landed, perhaps not well but there definitely hadn’t been a fall or a huge mistake. “You going with layout one or two?”

“One.” He got a smile from Talia and a nod from Jason, approval, nothing reading as sabotage. Either Jason was too far in front or they were both hoping for that to come out of the warm up. He couldn’t allow himself to think that they possibly were playing a long enough con that would have him blow up where it counted. They’d be fools to risk USFSA spots like that.

“I didn’t pay much attention to you during the warm up, I was watching him. However, your triple lutz’s landing, you almost looked like you were waiting to fall and that’s why you ended up falling.” He should have known there was going to be an opinion about that. The triple lutz despite being the only jump at 4CC that wasn’t completely screwed up, had been a consistent issue for years, if it was up to him he would have taken it out already, but he’d used it all season and unless he changed the whole layout he relied on muscle memory to prep each of his jumps in his program. “You had it and then it was like you in your head went no I don’t and then lost it completely. You should know this by now but if you really think you’re going to struggle to stay up, step out or put your other foot down earlier, don’t allow your brain to make you lose something your body is positive you’ve got.”

It made sense, and she was right he should and he did know it but it had been a fraction of a second between his blade touching the ice and then his ass hitting it. “Also, don’t look like you’ve been taken over by a demon the whole time. It’s haunting but there’s soft moments where if you give even a half smile you’ll look so much more at ease… Not a forced smile, it’s got to reach your eyes.” Advice he’d heard before, Jason had said it during practice and Dick had said it all year about the program, that didn’t mean it was the easiest of things to do, a smile of relief sometimes came over him once he was done with all the jumps but that was so different to a natural smile like he was enjoying himself.

More clapping, sustained this time, which meant that the program was over, only Conner then it was him. Which meant it was time for them to come out from behind the curtain and wait rink side for the very first moment he could step onto the ice. “How are you feeling?” Jason asked, it was more direct than a simple thumbs up, it was asking for an honest answer rather than giving him an emotion that he could claim he was or wasn’t feeling as an easy out.

“Like I could use another three weeks of practice.” Honest, more of a mental feeling than a physical feeling. In his gut, Tim knew he hadn’t physically felt better at Worlds in his entire career and it had become obvious in the last week before coming to competition that he was peaking at the right time.

“Good, if you said you were feeling completely fine I’d be worried that you’d been taken over by someone else.” The headphones were handed back to him, Tim putting them on before he even had to hear the score of the previous skater. He didn’t want to know whether the judges were being generous or punishing for light mistakes and the best way to avoid that was to not hear it at all.

The small pat on the back pushed him into stepping out rink side, there was Conner, in his stupid not actually a costume, costume. Conner might have been more comfortable in it, but wearing black pants and a black long-sleeved shirt was training gear not an elite competition costume by any means.

He couldn’t focus on that, even if it made him laugh at Conner’s attempts to defend it. It was game face time, or as Jason phrased it ‘begin the ritual to allow the demon to take over…’, God, he wished it was a demon that took over his body and not just his face that he used to mask all fear of what would happen if he made a mistake, very different to the ‘robot’ face that was just his way of not giving too much away.

God, he had a little over five minutes before he stepped out on the ice, before he had to… no… got to redeem his free skate from Four Continents. The season was so close to being over. In a lot of ways, he had to admit he hated that. The men’s event was the first one to finish up, whilst the ice dancers wouldn’t finish until Sunday. He just had to keep his eyes off the ice until those five minutes were up.

Four minutes… he couldn’t just keep pacing like this, if he kept his eyes down he could mark running through his step sequence… stop himself from getting fidgety or anxious. Eyes off the ice and on the ball.  _ Even though the ice is effectively the ball and the court in this sport. _

Only three minutes, three minutes and the one person he’d looked at in the crowd did not look happy, a hand over her mouth nails curling into her cheek as she reacted to whatever was going on behind him. Talia’s lips were pursed, watching the event whilst Jason seemed to only be looking at him. He didn’t know what would cause her to make such a face when it wasn’t her student but he had two pretty good guesses, either Conner was having the skate of his career or he was seriously struggling and she was simply unimpressed by him. She’d already heard her voice that she preferred Bart’s components to Conner’s and that USFSA had given a jumper the spot over someone with strong skating skills and transitions.

Two more, every single muscle seemed to be too tight and yet too loose at the same time. It was all in his head. It had to be, because the very suggestion of it being real was absolutely ridiculous. He was ridiculous as was jumping off a razor thin blade, doing four rotations and then landing on that very same blade but that was a different kind of ridiculousness that took a lifetime of training.

One minute. Quad Loop, quad flip, triple lutz, spin, choreography sequence into another spin, triple axel triple toe, quad toe, quad toe double toe, triple axel half loop triple flip, triple sal, step sequence, spin, stop,  _ die, revive self on ice, _ get up and off ice, watch footage, get no calls, get score, win,  _ die again… and don’t forget to smile _

He bit his lip as he stood at the gate to step on, shedding his jacket and hastily taking off the blade guards and headphones. Jason or Talia, he had no idea who took them out of his hands but the moment he was on the ice he was out of the bubble, exposed to every eye in the arena and whoever was watching somewhere else. He did three laps and one jump before returning to the barrier, Jason looked happy, well confident was probably the right word. Confident in him he hoped. So, Conner was in eighth now, with a 244, which meant that there were others that had been a mess but Conner hadn’t skated well by any means either.

Jason took each of his hands, Tim closing his eyes and giving himself a moment to breathe, listening to the comments about his form and where he needed to check out. The only thing that really stuck was the last sentence. “Just so you know, I’ve already got that gold medal around my neck, so skate good kid.”

If there weren’t mics around the rink he wouldn’t have hesitated in telling Jason to fuck off, for calling him a kid alone, but he couldn’t do that here, so instead he just laughed at the other, swatting the hands away as he skated out to centre ice, smiling as he raised his arms up at his name being introduced.

He’d show Jason, he wasn’t just going to win because he’d done well whilst everyone else had been trash. There was a four-point difference in the short, he didn’t need to break a world record to win. He just needed to do the job he knew how to do.

There were few times he hadn’t closed his eyes before a program started, but as he stopped and help his opening pose he focused on the spot on the ice his right blade would cross over as he did a back inside edge pivot to start the program. His face relaxing from the smile but not dropping into the serious ‘demon mode’ expression either.

His legs moved on their own as the music started, needing a moment to let his shoulders relax when he felt the stiffness he’d become so used to during opening of this program, if his shoulders were stiff it would affect his whole posture and he couldn’t jump with them at his ears. It took all of an eight count to get them down, to get his whole upper body moving fluidly as though he’d solved the final puzzle in a game master’s grand plan.

The loop, last time he’d done it in the free he’d hit the boards, even as he went up for it he knew it would be fine, pressing into the ice as he landed, satisfied by the sound of the edge cutting into the ice. It wasn’t pristine or fresh ice by any means but it wasn’t impossible to work with either.

He didn’t put quite enough of a hammer into the flip to ‘explode’ off the ice but as his blade came into the ice and the landing edge wasn’t insanely shallow or having a weird hook to it, it told him his rotations were clean.

The lutz, oh the lutz, his edge wasn’t perfect, there were few people in skating that did have a perfect and clear edge on the jump but he could feel it in his gut his would be called unclear, it was flat rather than being outright wrong. The landing was more of an issue, feeling himself too far back on his blade, the smart and safe thing to do would be to put his foot down and take the -1s but he didn’t want to play it safe and just accept a silver medal. Forcing his free leg’s toepick into the ice and tacking on a double toeloop. The landing wasn’t the cleanest, but it meant he’d make back up to the base value of the triple lutz.

_ Four points difference, every point was going to count even if it meant taking risks. Jason should be sweating in his boots by the end of this. _

He couldn’t dwell on the lutz, sucking in a deep breath as he did a death drop into his camel spin, listening for the music to change positions. He couldn’t waste energy counting rotations, there were still five jumping passes left on top of the step sequence, choreographic sequence and the two other combination spins.

They all needed to be just right to make up for the one slightly dodgy element. But damn if the choreography sequence didn’t feel like a mini step sequence, subbing out twizzles for a spread eagle and an Ina Bauer. There was no way he was going to make it to the end on this program, but he had to. Failing wasn’t an option.

He wasn’t going to allow it to be an option, even if his body screamed at him throughout the whole second half of the program. All he needed was to get through this spin and it would be time for the jumps package that was worth ten percent more than the ones he’d opened the program with, the ones he’d been doing at every competition since he was fourteen. God if he didn’t feel so exhausted by the end of a program with five passes at the back end of the program he’d put them all in there, but it would kill him, two minutes with eight passes, only a monster who sacrificed everything else for the jumps would even attempt that.

Each and every one felt right, Tim unable to contain his smile as he landed the triple axel single loop triple flip, it had covered so much more ice than he’d expected it to, it left little room for the few steps he had as he still ended up closer to the barriers than he would have liked. But with one jump left, if he didn’t feel so fatigued already he would try tacking on another double toe at the end of the sal.

It wasn’t worth it, he could land the jump clean and easy without it and it meant he’d likely sacrifice GOE marks if he didn’t nail the landing. There was a time to go against the plan and then there was a time to follow it to a tee and this was a moment where he had to go for the latter.

The clapping practically overtook the music in his step sequence, awkward off beat clapping that was also pretty out of sync across the rink, however, he could tell he was on the music, the clapping just seemed to get louder and more encouraging with each step which said that it was on the money. It was impossible to contain the smile at this point.

His brain didn’t stop until a half a second after his body did, shaking as the crowd erupted. It wasn’t perfect… not even close the lutz told that story well enough. But it was a completely different skate to how he’d done the program all year. Tim smiling as he bowed in each direction, starting with the judges table. Blocking out the gifts and flowers being thrown onto the ice as he headed towards the exit, the crowd still making noise the whole way off the rink. Talia had been right yesterday, the crowd did still love him, even if it hadn’t felt that way walking in, it was definitely true. “Oh, my God, you are crazy!” Jason’s arms were around him in an instant, squeezing him tight. Squeezing the remainder of what little energy he had left out of him.

“I feel like I’m gonna die so you better help me to the kiss and cry.” He mumbled, no doubt it would still end up being picked up by audio, Jason pulling out of the hug about allowing him to grip his arm as they took slow steps over to the seats, his blade guards and jacket only being handed to him once he was sitting down.

He wiped his nose first, waiting for the cameras to go off them, Jason looking at him expectantly on his right, waiting for one of them to say something, Talia sitting at his left. “I’ll admit maybe I gave you the wrong idea with my correction on the lutz.” Talia said softly, tilting her head to the side. “It paid off, I think but I never would have thought you’d take that risk.”

“Well if I fell on the toe, or made some other error it was going to be worth the same as the lutz anyway, so I just kind of went for it hoping for the best.” Jason laughed at him, none of them able to contain their smiles even though his doing well meant there was a chance Jason might not win. The edge was definitely unclear on the review footage, he was right about it being flat, not the best thing but not the end of the world.

“It was really good, like wanting the lutz toe combination to be exactly right aside, that’s the best I’ve ever seen you skate.” The comment was soft spoken, not loud enough to be picked up by the microphones, Tim turned his head to meet the other’s eyes, Jason got it, he hadn’t even said how he’d felt about the skate and he understood it. “Are you crying?”

His first instinct was to say no, but wiping a finger under his eyes it was evident that he most definitely was crying. “Oh Jesus, gross.” He said, wiping more tears away as he couldn’t help but laugh. The camera switching back to them as he hurried to make it look like he wasn’t crying which only made him cry more. He couldn’t even swear no matter how badly he wanted to right now. “I’ve never in my life happy cried this is way more embarrassing than I thought it would be.” Laughter, not just from his team but from the crowd, it was probably the loudest any of them had ever heard Tim speak, he was taken aback by how loud he’d managed to be.

“The scores please.”

Timothy Drake – USA

TES: 120.03 PCS: 98.33 Deduction: 0.00

FS: 218.36

Combined: 327.41

Second

Seasons best

That definitely explained the original cheer, Jason had beaten his own world record so solidly that he was just over a point behind him and his score would have broken the world record before this competition. Would have broken it by a handful of points even. He was squished into another hug before he even had time to say a word, Tim still trying to wipe away tears as his arm was crushed in the hug.

 

* * *

 

 

**Worlds Silver Medallist Timothy Drake Talks: Worlds, the Coaching Change and Off Season**

_ Vicki Vale _

Prior to the Exhibition Gala at Worlds this year, I had the opportunity to sit with the Men’s silver medallist Timothy Drake, whose tumultuous season seemed to be over following a disastrous Four Continents Championship barely two months ago. However, the turnaround with a coaching change has astounded everyone in the figure skating community.

**_You had a rough season this year with the move and falling short the podium entirely at one competition, did you think it was possible you’d be the silver medallist at Worlds this year with a small gold for the short program?_ **

_ TD: I can’t say I expected it, you don’t know what is going to happen, you can only go out there and have a skate you’re satisfied with. If I didn’t have the support behind me leading up to this, there wouldn’t have been a hope in hell for me to do this well. But I was alone on the ice and I did everything I could and it wasn’t quite enough this time. I didn’t lose because of what I did or didn’t do, I was just outskated and that is going to happen from time to time. _

**_You mention support, is that directly related to coaching or just in general?_ **

_ TD: It all goes hand in hand with a professional athlete, if your family didn’t back you early on you wouldn’t have the coaches you’re able to have. I can’t say my results fall on anyone’s shoulders but my own. That sounds cocky. I’m trying to say that I don’t want people to think it’s all about a few people in your corner, support helps but ultimately, it’s got to come from you, they just help you get your head in the game. _

**_You’ve always had a ritual of sorts that goes on in the 30 seconds before your program starts, you’ve been very composed in the past but there was an interaction between yourself and your coach that caused you to show a more playful side before the music started, can you explain?_ **

_ TD: I don’t watch the skates before me, I’ve got music playing and I don’t want to let my mind play tricks on me based on what I see. I had an idea of the scores, you couldn’t have not heard the crowd lose it at the world record. So, when I skated up to Jason he says a few words about what I should watch out for then says something like; “Skate good the gold medal is already around my neck.” I think my natural reaction was just to laugh at him, but it also lit a fire inside me because I wanted to prove I still had a chance at it. _

**_A mid-season coaching change isn’t normal by any stretch of the imagination, what caused you to take a coach that is also a fellow competitor rather than someone else?_ **

_ TD: I would say he nagged me into taking him up (laughs), Jason made a compelling case and backed me when he had zero reason to do so, in fact it would have benefited him to have said nothing at all. It made me realise that it would be a better place for me than being with someone that was practically a stranger. _

**_People believed Jason Todd and yourself to be fierce rivals and some would say you hated each other, when did that change?_ **

_ TD: His opinion might be different to mine, at the start of last season I noticed he was being… I want to say nicer… to me, but I assumed he was trying to throw me off before my skates. We started to get along during the ice shows over the summer but I wouldn’t have said we had a trusting or friendly relationship until shortly before I made the switch. _

**_You both came up through the same rink, did you know each other at all before either of you had competitive careers?_ **

_ TD: I definitely knew Jason, he might not have known who I was or remembered me in any way. I started skating young, spent all my time at the rink out of school and would watch this kid a few years older than me who did these huge jumps I didn’t think possible for myself despite how much time i spent there. Eventually one day I asked him for tips on doing doubles, we had different coaches, I was ten, he was fourteen, it was a year before he had the ACL injury. I honestly don’t know why he helped me and if I asked he’d probably have no idea what I was talking about because it wasn’t a big moment early on in his skating career. It was just one of those hero worship things at the time, which is ironic given that we didn’t get along at all when we were competing against each other. _

**_Do you have any regrets moving?_ **

_ TD: No. _

**_Are you still in contact with any of your former teammates or coaching team?_ **

_ TD: Dick Grayson, who did a lot of my choreography sent me a message this morning wishing me luck, we speak regularly and I still talk to a few of the girls, otherwise not at present. _

**_At present?_ **

_ TD: I… There are things that are best left unsaid. _

**_Aside from celebrating and settling in properly to your new rink do you have many plans for the off season?_ **

_ TD: There’s no hard vacation type plans, I’ll go back home to see my parents briefly but I am expected to be performing at several ice shows in North America and if I’m lucky I might be asked to do some in Japan. That in itself is a vacation because you do get some time in some of those locations to sight see. Then there’s the task that is harder than skating all the time and it’s moving everything I want or need from my old place so that my roots are actually in Switzerland rather than my current situation. _

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This isn't the end of this fic by a long shot there's still so much more to go, it's more an end to act one and I hope you guys stick around provided you're still enjoying it.
> 
> Follow me on twitter if you wanna see my trash figure skating or DC takes @flavourlessfict or sideponytailpidge on tumblr.
> 
> And something that i've been meaning to write for the past 6 chapters or so, I've been looking for an artist to commission a piece, perhaps two a fair way down the line of the fic, which will tie into the multimedia element of this story, it's still a fair way off but if there are any artists that people can recommend or are interested and want to talk hit me up on either forms of social media or here. As I said commission, I don't want someone to do free art for my fic, i'll pay along their price list if they have one or what an estimate will be. But I've been wanting to do this since I started writing it and I just don't know any Jaytim artists well enough to ask.


	9. Chapter 9

**Question of Intent: Did Timothy Drake Leave Bruce Wayne and Co Due to a Romantic Pursuit Rather Than a Chase for Glory**

_ Vicki Vale _

_ When Timothy Drake left Bruce Wayne’s rink there were many doubters, including myself as to whether a mid-season move was the right move for him. Plenty of skaters having coaching changes but aside from one exception no one has left Bruce Wayne, in fact more are likely to move to him and his coaching team in the hunt for medals. _

_ Drake joined his competitor, and now coach, Jason Todd, in Switzerland following a disastrous Four Continents Championships and came through with another silver medal for the United States at Worlds this season. In the eyes of many fans of the sport it seemed like Drake must have moved for the right reasons. _

_ However, there are now rumours that he may in fact have moved for reasons other than advancement of his skating career. Rumours shouldn’t always be believed, however, there has been an unparalleled amount of interest and evidence into the notion that Jason Todd and Timothy Drake are in fact in a relationship and have been for some time. _

_ It should be noted that there is a four-year age difference between the two skaters and Drake only turned eighteen in July of last year. So, depending on how long the two have been together would raise questions of morality and legality, let alone, how appropriate it is for one to be dating their fellow competition regardless of whether they’re their coach or not. _

_ The oldest of the rumours go back three seasons ago, to their first worlds against one another. The worlds which plenty believe Drake would have won if it hadn’t been for the fact that he was protecting an injury. Whispers first started there due to several seemingly tense interactions and the fact that they were regularly in close proximity to each other despite not using the same coaching team. However, many took this for a rivalry brewing between the two of them, especially given Todd’s relationship towards Wayne, and Talia Al Ghul’s history with Wayne. _

_ As far as I researched the pair had very few interactions in the following season, aside from podiuming together and being on the same team at the World Team Trophy event, which they were frequently seen being friendly towards each other throughout. Which largely could have been out of obligation as WTT is often regarded as an event to please fans and show athletes being united following the pressures of Worlds. _

_ However, this friendlier attitude seemed to continue throughout the off season and into the beginning of the past season, culminating in 4CC where through photos provided we can see the two clubbing, despite Drake being under twenty-one. Up until this point there had been no notion of Drake leaving Wayne, despite Ra’s Al Ghul publicly stating on several occasions that he would have liked to take Drake on if he was ever looking for a new coach. _

_ Yet Drake snubbed experience and proven success for someone with no history as a coach, someone he moved in with and is often seen fooling around with which many interpret as being more like flirting than simple ‘boys will be boys’ foolishness. _

_ The biggest question mark is Todd’s return to Gotham for a brief argument with Wayne about Drake’s 4CC results, which had been little more than gossip before Drake confirmed it following this seasons World Championships. The apparent recording has still been unable to be attained by any skating journalists, but there has been confirmation from both Bruce and Damian Wayne, that this in fact did happen and that Dick Grayson had also been present during the incident. _

_ When asked for comment, Bruce Wayne expressed his disappointment that Drake would make such a sudden move for personal reasons, whilst dragging his name through the mud at the same time. He also alluded to some concerns that without a proper coach and support network there was a chance Drake would plateau as self-interests would always outweigh his career. _

_ Damian Wayne on the other hand was more pointed in his remarks, claiming it was skating’s worst kept secret that there was involvement between the two American skaters and that Drake shouldn’t be allowed to ‘come crawling back’ when he was eventually let down by Todd. _

_ I am not one to pass down judgement as to whether the two are in fact in any sort of a relationship, however, considering their behaviour has continued well into this year’s off season I am not in the least bit surprised if there is some sort of truth to these rumours. _

_ I reached out to both Timothy Drake, Jason Todd and their teams for comment but received no response. _

 

* * *

 

“Fuck off! She’s insane!” The shout almost made him turn off the water, almost. There were things that were important and right now Jason being judgemental about… well something, was not important to him, what was important was getting all the sweat and glitter off of his skin after Steph had decided it would make him shine more during the show. Who knew what one of the girls must have sent him, or someone else forwarded even.

How he allowed himself to get forced into that he couldn’t explain but the water was scalding and he’d gotten rid of two layers of skin whilst there was still patches of glitter on his body. There was an out and he hadn’t taken it and now there was never a chance of getting any of this off of him.

There was no denying he was curious as to what set Jason off, but he wasn’t all too keen on getting out until he was thoroughly clean. Although it seemed like that was never going to happen as he picked glitter out from under his nails only for it to land on his leg and stick under the shower head’s spray.

There was a brief knock before the door might as well have been knocked off its hinges as Jason burst in, this certainly wasn’t going to be a peaceful shower then. Although when had anyone had a moment of piece since the ice shows had started. They were a week in and the moment you looked relaxed, you were being asked to work on a new group routine or to work in a different exhibition program so that you weren’t doing the same two or three exhibitions at every stop along the road. As though their competitive programs weren’t an option or debuting what they were working on for the next season either.

“Your friend Vicki has done an insane level of mental gymnastics in her latest article.” Oh, so it was Vicki that had set him off. That seemed like less of a surprise, it was off season and somehow both Selina and Talia were pissed off at Bruce at the same time, which meant Vicki had likely wormed her way in.

Or Bruce was desperate for some good press and had taken advantage of Vicki’s pattern of behaviour. “I wouldn’t call her my friend, after worlds was the first time I’d even done an interview with her.”

“First and last…” Well at least that wasn’t as loud, although he didn’t sound any happier. “Here’s the headline of her ‘paid by Wayne’ piece that gets worse the more you read it: ‘Question of Intent: Did Timothy Drake Leave Bruce Wayne and Co Due to a Romantic Pursuit Rather Than a Chase for Glory’.”

That was enough for him to turn the shower off, gripping the handle as he tried his best not to have the exact same reaction as Jason had. “You have to be joking.” The noise Jason made was a definite sign that he wasn’t joking, poking his head and a hand out past the curtain, his face scrunched up as he was handed his towel. “Her headlines are always ridiculously long.”

“The length isn’t my problem and it shouldn’t be yours either.” He knew that, he just needed to not allow himself to get angry, if they were both fuming then it would look worse. It would lead people to believe there was truth to it. Just because some fans had a theory that they were dating didn’t mean there was any truth to it but a journalist shouldn’t be using a few twitter memes to make an extra buck. “She also claims she contacted us for comment, which I never received anything and I can’t imagine you did either.” That was accurate, as far as he knew he’d received no calls or emails from her, aside from the thank you, email he’d gotten a few days after she’d published the interview.

They couldn’t exactly ask her to retract the article either, it would cause it to gain more attention and she could write things to bolster Bruce that made the both of them look worse. “Well we’re not dating, so she’s spinning something out of nothing to get clicks. She obviously doesn’t want to get dumped the moment he’s back in Selina’s good graces and this is the sort of thing she’s always done.” Always done, and always gotten dumped a few weeks later.

“Yeah but if Bruce and Damian are both making on the record comments in it then people will start to think where there’s smoke there’s fire.”

Damian? Now that was someone who had zero right to an opinion about anything in his life. “It’s not about them, so why are they saying anything?” He wrapped the towel around his waist, tying it tight before stepping out of the shower, getting a good look at the expression on Jason’s face. He was angry, that was obvious enough from the expression, but he almost looked hurt as well. It was one thing for there to be articles that were only to fuel drama about skating and playing up rivalries worse than they actually are, but personal lives had been so far been off limits unless the skaters in question brought them up. “Jay… whatever she wrote there’s no truth to it and whatever they said will bite them in the ass. You think people that know either one of us won’t say anything?”

“You think Babs and Dick will speak out against their boss, or Cass her coach? If this turns into a scandal it can ruin both of us.” He was right, so right, one indecent scandal and the federation could turn its back on a skater, it only took one misstep for the skating world to push you out and despite nothing changing about you as a skater you’d never be allowed to get the same results again.

Bruce could go fuck himself. He was untouchable all things considered and if he said or did anything against Bruce then it could land him in hot water and make him look bitter about leaving. He needed a plan and even if it was immature, it would be easier far to get into Damian’s head that anyone else’s.

Jason had to get behind him on it, but he doubted the other would be against it all things considered. Jason had played enough games with others including him that even if he didn’t think it was a great idea he likely wouldn’t be explicitly against it either. “So, let’s give Damian an introduction to seniors, and how quickly you get shut out by your peers for starting bullshit.”

“You have a plan?”

“I have an idea, I don’t think Dick will like getting used but he’ll forgive me.”


	10. Chapter 10

The email was clear cut, perhaps poorly worded but told stated exactly what was wanted and where they needed to be on any given day. A month-long training camp sounded insane on paper, well actually it sounded insane in practice too, but it was a team camp and they were going into the penultimate season to the Olympics, if they didn’t all do well at Worlds then they’d have fewer team members at the Olympics and the next Worlds. But for the federation to be demanding a month of physical training and media work, well Tim could only shake his head at how ridiculous the idea of it was.

The Russians did test skates in August but they didn’t devote an entire month of the off season to a camp, especially not for the Specialist funded skaters but if they chose to skip out they’d go without funding which for enough skaters would ruin them. Ultimately it was a threat directed more towards Jason and himself, camp might have been in Colorado but if it was apparent that Bruce was a leading coach that neither one of them would want to be there.

“Why did they pick July?” Jason whined, rolling onto his stomach and pressing his face into the pillow.

Tim shrugged, drumming his thumbs on the phone screen, it wasn’t an ideal time at all they’d planned on getting the choreography of their programs done and now they’d be doing it under the scrutiny of rival coaches and federation executives. “Look at the Brightside, Damian competes for a different country so we won’t have to see him the entire time, unlike next weekend when he joins the tour.”

Jason’s head popped up, the tired eyes looking more like a glare than anything else. “Well aren’t you full of cheerful reminders this evening?” And to think they’d been having a good time watching bad movies not ten minutes ago. “Dick told me he’s doing Carmen for his free skate this season.”

“Yeah, I already got that from like five different twitter fans, I don’t know what Dick was offered but they argued about it a few times last season because Dick didn’t think he was mature or artistic enough for it.” God wasn’t that the understatement of the century too, Dick tended to be the most willing to work on things that were more… well more off of Bruce’s plans but it was the one thing he’d put his foot down on.

Carmen had always been the one program everyone had put their foot down on. Jason claiming, he didn’t want to skate to ‘operatic bullshit’ and Tim not wanting to be compared every single skater Bruce had for his entire career. Dick had looked so hurt when he’d said no to him choreographing, had almost begged because what he’d envisioned would be perfect for him and Tim had said no. He’d learnt part of the Habanera and realised in learning it how uncomfortable he was with learning it.

Learning Dick’s program which had won him Olympic Gold and had practically gone viral for the time.

Not even a masochist would want to cop the vitriol that would come from the skating fans. “It’s what, ten seasons since he skated to it, I wonder if he was coerced into working on it with the demon.” Jason huffed, flipping onto his back, clearly unable to find a comfortable position.

“Maybe… I can’t see him as a Carmen or a Don Jose regardless, you’d think Dick would have pressured for better suited music but then again he’s probably just too tired to care anymore.” Harsh but not entirely unreasonable, he’d seen it in Dick for months, getting tired of coaching and choreographing, wanting to stay on tour, to spend more time with Barbara when they weren’t both under the thumb of Bruce Wayne. Everyone left from time to time except Dick, and he seemed to be at the end of his rope.

“Too bad you already committed to your music for this season, otherwise we could really fuck with him.”

Tim smiled to say the thought hadn’t crossed his mind was a lie, it would be entertaining to say the least and the right cut of music would really sell it, but Dick had demanded a seductive edge and he knew Jason would want the next step and for him to be sexy… likely too sexy for any judge over the age of forty. “I mean there’s an easy way to get in his head and we have a week to make something up, not to mention if I do it first then he’ll have another person to be compared to for an entire season.”

A week was long enough, it wouldn’t be perfect or even remotely polished but there were ways for people to ignore that, ways that would please the crowds provided they were young enough, a conservative crowd on the other hand would likely hate it. “I don’t think I’ll fit into Cass’s costumes anymore but if Barbara loves me enough maybe she’ll let me borrow one of hers… also then it won’t be uncomfortably short if it’s one of her Ice Dance dresses.”

Jason bolted upright, his expression a mixture of excitement and amusement. If there was something everyone seemed to keep harping on about it was his doing another program in shitty drag. A lazy joke for a jumps battle that more than a few people got behind. “You will confuse more than a few people, sexually, but it’ll be hot.”

“Don’t be gross.”

* * *

 His gut instinct had been right, Dick just didn’t care enough lately to even question his motivations for ‘recreating’ his Carmen program, less the jumps and that was before he even suggested needing to borrow the dress Barbara used for a tango-romantica dance that they’d done in the shows last season. She was all too happy to give the dress up and whilst it had to be pinned around the chest it definitely moved just right, and still covered his crotch when he spun.

“You look scared.” Dick said as he came out of the spin, Tim couldn’t hide the frown even as he wiped his nose on the back of his glove. “Your face doesn’t match the rest of your body, everything is right shoulders down, it’s just the expression.”

Not an unreasonable critique, he wouldn’t say that he was scared but he was focused on not messing up and making a fool of himself despite the costume. Looking seductive didn’t come naturally to him, and advice on the matter was one thing but when you couldn’t see your face in the mirror and all eyes were on you it wasn’t as easy as some made it out to be. “Well it’s hard to compete against what you’ve served up in the past.”

“Or to prove that it should be you doing it as your free skate and not Damian.” So, they were that transparent, the motivation was off but if Dick had figured it out that quickly it meant he was surely in for a well-meaning lecture at one point or another. “Have fun with it, you’re not competing and well you can kind of relate to this, in a very insane way.”

“Relate to it how?” Now that was something that was going to have to be explained to him, he’d seen the Opera, read the book out of boredom and couldn’t see himself in any of the characters.

Dick took a breath, looking conflicted before he even opened his mouth to speak. “Well you managed to convince Bruce to go against his better judgement and take you on as a student only for his mismanagement to push you away into the arms of another rink that despite his connections to he doesn’t like. Then despite the fact that it isn’t Bruce doing it you’ve now got someone trying to kill your career.”

He felt his face harden, so Dick was aware of the damage that the article could cause, damage that they had to wait a few more months to see if it would unfold or not. “It’s not that deep, besides, rumours about who I’m dating hurts the other half of that article more than it hurts me.” For as angry as he felt about it, he sounded completely emotionless, not even irritated. “I don’t want to talk about it… just tell me how to fix my face.”

The best thing to do was avoid talking about the subject to people that had a conflict of interest which unfortunately was most of his friends. “Well… as always you need to loosen up just a tad, as Jason said focus on making the crowd’s dicks hard and their pussies wet.”

“He talked about making everyone feel sexually confused, Babs said that. It’s harder than you think, I’ve never had to be anything other than perfect. It’s always been about my body’s movements not my expression.”

“Just give a smile, a glance, anything you possibly can give to them that brings them in.” It all sounded so easy, even though it was always more complicated than that, you had to shift as the music and if you didn’t shift in the right moment then it would end up looking more awkward than being expressionless. “It’s about seduction, think about how Steph got you… or Conner, or how I got Babs after many, many screw ups, there’s subtle mannerisms that even you must have used a time or two.”

Because ‘subtle mannerisms’ had really worked for him… “Without any real success when they’re intentional. It’s one thing to make someone want to sleep with you or whatever, but the characterisation calls for so much more.”

“You’re overthinking it, go small, all you want is to lure them into your bed, otherwise pick different music.”

“No, no, it’s got to be Carmen, otherwise the point won’t be made.”

 


	11. Chapter 11

“Really, half tights, you’re not a junior or in your first senior season grow the fuck up Tim.” Steph practically shouted as he stepped out of the bathroom, forcing him into the chair that was beside a table with a dozen or so types of make-up. “I thought you had better style and well… more self-respect.”

“If you lift up my skirt you’ll see that I’m wearing butt pads too.” Tim teased, if he was going to cop that immediately from Steph then the tights would go, skating barelegged wouldn’t be too bad, that is unless he fell, thankfully not as real of a possibility as if he was doing any quads.

“You really do know how to get all the girls and boys don’t you?” He should have known that in asking Steph to do the make-up meant that he wouldn’t get the nicest of approaches, unable to keep himself from flinching each time the sponge came anywhere near his face. “Chill out, it’s not like I’m punching you.”

That wasn’t entirely unfair but she wasn’t going any softer either, grimacing as she used a nail to scrape under his eye, showing him an eyelash balancing on her nail. “Careful or I might try to steal Conner. We all know he loves a good set of legs.” That earnt a hit to his forehead with the end of one of the brushes, at least she was smiling as he said it.

“I think someone else might have opinions about you hitting on Conner and it’s not me.” Indirect, yet as obvious as it could possibly be. It wasn’t a secret and he’d earnt his fair share of teasing comments from most. “I get it, nothing is going to happen during the season but that doesn’t mean you can’t test the waters whilst on tour, or at the most expensive waste of time that is the whole month of July.”

There was a very good reason for that, one that he shouldn’t have to explain. “He rejected me, twice, I’m not going to throw myself at someone who wants to play it safe.” He said softly, his eyes following the pairs team as they jogged past them. “Don’t say anything about safe not being in Jason’s vocabulary, you see how rumours with little clout spread, the second something does happen we’ll get our asses handed to us for inappropriate conduct by the federation.”

Steph hesitated, her eyebrows coming together in a frown, she mustn’t have expected a thought-out response. “What do you mean you got rejected twice?”

“We went out after the free skate at four continents and I came onto him then, I might have been semi loaded but he turned me down after a kiss-”

“You don’t think he did that, despite previous evidence, he’s a decent guy who didn’t want to take advantage of you?” She interrupted, looking at him as though he was the biggest idiot she’d ever met. “You were a mess at the gala and the banquet, without alcohol, it would have been worse that night, especially if you’d been drinking, no offense but you’re a light weight.” All statements were true, it didn’t take away from the fact that even months later he felt embarrassed about it. “What was the second time?”

“Worlds, the night before the free skate, it was weird.” He admitted, looking down into his lap only for Steph to tilt his head upwards as she kept working on his face. “He was the one that wanted me to stay but once I showed that I wanted to, well then he decided it was a bad idea. Some would say it’s a long con to psych me out but if anything, he got inside his own head. He won’t do anything and I’d rather respect that and keep things as they are than make an idiot out of myself.”

“You’re in one of Bab’s dresses right now and more specifically half tights and you’re worried about making a fool out of yourself?” That was fair, if he looked awkward it would look like he was just making fun of the overuse of Carmen but the point was for it to look good, well and for Damian to look bad. “Tim if you know Jason is interested, why wouldn’t you at least have the difficult conversation. It can’t be worse than your best friend dating your ex and you took that better than most people would.”

He didn’t quite take that as well as she thought, it had hurt more than he’d thought it would when he first realised there was something between Steph and Conner. Had there been tears? No. But it had felt like a slap in the face that he’d figured it out before either one of them had told him. Although, Steph was right, once they did actually tell him it had been awkward certainly but he’d also then gotten over any resentment he’d been feeling to either one of them.

This was a completely different ball park, however. “We live together and he’s my coach, if it goes badly even as a casual over the off-season thing what do you think happens to me. I can’t go back to Gotham and I like where I am right now.”

“You’re making excuses.” That was true, but then he’d heard harsher excuses from Jason’s mouth. “Close your eyes… I’m not trying to pressure you, I swear, but isn’t it better to know that it won’t work whilst the flame is still burning than let it fizzle out and always regret not trying?” She always had a solid point, one that he’d always have an argument against but it was out of stubbornness than disagreement.

But she hadn’t seen Jason’s face after the article, the anger that didn’t meet his eyes because of how hurt he was. “I’m not going to do it, besides, who wants to let Vicki or Damian be right?”

“Spite is an excellent motivator but not at the cost of your own happiness, or Jason’s.”

“How did you get so smart?”

“You and Cass abandoning me for the past few months.” They hadn’t talked about that, about the rink, at all. It couldn’t be easy for Steph to be there without any of them, Cass splitting her time between rinks and Tim’s up and leaving. Sure, Steph was friendlier than him but it was easy to allow yourself to be isolated, Tim had done it to himself for months before he finally moved, but in turn he’d done it to Steph as well. “What are you going to do if Damian goes ape for you skating to his free skate music?”

“He doesn’t own Bizet, although if I breathed in his direction he’d probably pull a knife on me so I guess if that comes well I hope you enjoy being the reason why my ghost will forever be wearing make-up.”

“You’re right though, he doesn’t own the music and it’s stupid if he gets mad at you over it.”

Tim nodded slowly, she was definitely right and he wasn’t going to admit so openly that his intention was to make Damian mad. Intentionally starting trouble and looking like trying to start trouble were two very different things, and despite Dick being seemingly calm about it he wasn’t sure everyone else would be. He was certainly manipulating the situation regardless of the outcome.

 

* * *

 

 

God, his legs were freezing, he should have ignored the comment about half tights, or just stolen a pair of Steph’s tights regardless of how unhygienic that might be. But no, he’d listened to the jab and quickly caved and here he was standing behind some curtains on the edge to the entrance of the rink, spinning his skate guard in his hands as he listened to the music.

How Dick was still staking to _Toxic_ at ice shows blew his mind but crowds still seemed to be into it, despite it being the fourth… no fifth year that he’d been skating to it. It was probably less about the crowd and more about the fact that Dick enjoyed it. “You want some last-minute advice?” If it wasn’t for the hand that suddenly rested on his hip in an all too comfortable position he would have jumped.

Instead Tim kept his eyes forward but tilted his head to the side to listen better over the music. “Jason, if you tell me to have fun I’ll make sure you don’t make it out of tonight’s show alive.” He sighed, rocking on his blade guards ever so gently.

“No, you’re not drunk enough to be having fun. I’ll give you real advice, in your side-layback reach out to the audience rather than doing the crescent moon arms thing… open palms.” Tim rolled his eyes, it was an awful description of the arms but he understood what the other meant, lazily imitating the movement with his upper body, straining his fingers as though he was reaching out and then curling them into fists as he straightened out. “Like that, yeah… make them was to reach out to take your hand and then deny them right at the last second.”

A suggestion that she should have figured out on his own, being a tease was one thing, a tease could feign innocence, but an aggressive and somewhat mean tease was a whole other story and would always be transparent to someone watching from the outside. What people wanted to see from him was the latter. “Is this the moment you tell me to make their dicks hard and their pussies wet?” He asked, smirking as he turned to face Jason, if only he was so lucky to be skating in pants and a t-shirt, Jason always seemed to choose the lazy option when it came to non-competitive costumes.

Jason laughed, gripping his arm as Tim shifted from one foot to another to take off his blade guards. “You’d need to show more skin for that to get wide spread effectiveness.” God, he sounded so smug and even as Tim shoved him there was no wiping away the smirk that was plastered across his face. “You’re bound to make anyone that has ever said no to you to regret it within seconds.”

“That’s ironic coming from you…” He uttered, taking a step back as the music started to reach the last few bars. “But hey, maybe Steph’s right and Conner will dump her for little old me, it’s a good thing I shave my legs isn’t it.”

Jason’s expression hardly wavered, but bringing Conner into it did make the other’s back straighten, even with a stupid comment the jealousy always managed to slip out one way or another. “Wow, the skating demon persona is already coming out, it’s meaner than normal.”

“It’s because I look hotter than normal.” He said, biting back a laugh but still smiling, the crowd still cheering for Dick but he only had a few seconds at best before he’d be introduced. Jason shutting his mouth, whatever comment on his mind being left to be forgotten, as Tim turned to face the curtain. He could feel his nerves ramping up with each passing second, pressing the nail of him thumb into his index finger to make sure his hands still had feeling in them.

This was a different kind of nerves to normal at least, the lights dim aside from the LEDs around the edge of the rink which were a dull red hue. Because no one could do Carmen and use any other colours than red.

He could hear a few murmurs in the crowd, likely confused as the program certainly had his name in there as next and yet the figure in the shadows would seem female, probably only because of the fact the movement of the dress as he skated into position for his opening pose, three quarters up the ice, balancing on his toe picks as he crouched down, the finger-tips of his right hand just grazing the ice to keep him balanced, the length of the dress hitting it without pooling around him.

This definitely felt more revealing than last year when he simply wore a cheap dress and some makeup for a jumps battle. The light finally settled on him, a small delay, no more than a few seconds but felt like a lifetime, before the music started. Tim rose slowly, turning with a backward pivot, his eyes on the ice before looking up into the crowd, followed by a female cheer that he could only guess belonged to Steph, able to see the lights of a few cameras, well this would be everywhere by the end of the night.

If anything, that made him feel like the pressure was off, easing through the opening set of steps. It presented itself of being a direct copy of Dick’s program, from a glance over the shoulder to the Back-Outside-Mohawk. It differed at the first jumping pass, Dick might have originally done a Salchow but it had made more sense to prepare a Loop, Tim barely having to think as he did the prep for a Loop, his body tensing as his arms were outstretched, dropping the flirty expression for a second.

 _God, if he fell on this it would be embarrassing_.

Only to smile and shake his finger, as he did a Loop-turn. Skating on one foot down the length of the rink, using the momentum from the jump to do several different turns from forwards to backwards before stepping onto the opposite foot into a sit spin, a broken leg position with his body twisted his head and free arm pointed above him. Tim trying not to count his rotations and waiting for the right moment in the music to come out of the spin.

He was a beat early, not that it truly mattered in the grand scheme of things, he simply had to do an extra crossover and he was back on the music in an instant. There was more to the upper body movements than the skating in truth. He could do these steps in his sleep but it was the simple flick of the wrist or shift from a relaxed smile to a more intense expression as the chorus joined in that had taken the time and energy to work through.

It wasn’t until he reached the second spin, the side-layback that he realised that he was more than half way through the piece, Jason’s advice to have open hands that were outstretched sticking in his mind even though it resulted in him traveling more than he would have liked he could feel a certain tension in the air that made it work so much more, snatching his hands away as he came up from the spin, spotting four heads peeking out from behind the curtain as he skated backwards towards the barrier at the opposite end of the rink to them.

He couldn’t make out who any of them were but he could take a stab in the dark and guess correctly. He stopped at the barrier, it far thinner than ones they’d have in a competition but due to the rink being smaller it was still needed for safety’s sake. It worked for him though, resting against the barrier for just a moment to lift the length of the dress to his mid-thigh before letting it fall, plucking the flower off of the barrier that they’d gotten a producer to blu-tack there between some of the performances, and skating away with it, holding it out tauntingly and then snatching it back towards his chest as though there was someone skating alongside him.

It had to be held carefully, the stem already half cut giving it the potential to look floppy if he wasn’t paying enough attention to it. Not that it mattered much ultimately, as he placed it between his teeth briefly only to bite through the broken stem and toss it somewhat haphazardly away from him, thankfully it was near enough to the centre of the ice that he should be able to find it when the skate finished.

He sucked in a deep breath as he glided into the backspin, the hand holding the flower stretched upwards whilst the other remained at his chest, coming out of the spin to throw the flower away from him, towards his fellow skaters, smirking as the light caught Jason, Steph, Bart and Dick’s heads exactly where they shouldn’t be. They’d get in trouble from the producers later but Tim could hardly hold back his laughter as he turned away from them on the final beat of the music.

He didn’t know what he expected from the crowd, barely a breath in the silence before people started cheering, he could definitely hear a whistle or two within the crowd as he scooped up the flower and made his way to the centre of the ice to bow, picking up the broken off stem when he spotted it before bowing in each direction. That certainly wasn’t an audience clapping just to be polite, he’d definitely remember what that sounded like, no this was more of a confused enthusiasm of sorts, Tim bowing once more before stepping behind the curtain.

The reaction from behind the curtain was far less confusing, Steph giving his side a playful squeeze as she passed him before stepping out for her own skate, her grin certainly a happy one rather than just the showy smile for the crowd she’d perfected over the years. Dick was the first one to actually get a hold of him, however, pulling him into a tight, and sweaty, hug. “Now do you see why I nagged you to do this for so long.” He exclaimed, rocking Tim from side to side in the embrace, doing nothing for his balance in his skates.

“I’m glad I waited.” He said, wriggling out of Dick’s hold, unable to keep himself from laughing now, wiping at his mouth with the meaty part of his hands in an attempt to get rid of the lipstick Steph had put on him earlier. “I was so worried about the bait and switch with the Loop that I’d fall on my ass if my body reacted out of muscle memory.”

He needed to keep moving, despite the fact that it was just a show performance he couldn’t deny there was a level of adrenaline moving through his body, adrenaline he could use to get changed and wash his face before the finale group skate, half an hour felt like a long time but he knew well that it was hardly anything at all.

It was a few pats on the back before he was able to pick up his stuff and make his way to the restroom, unable to stop himself from laughing at the absurdity of it all as he hurried to undo his skates, slipping them and the sweaty pair of socks off before pulling out the finale costume number, thankfully nothing more than white pants and a white button up. A terrible costume, everyone and anyone would have preferred black on black but it was what they’d been told to all get and given that they were being paid no one was about to complain.

The actual pressing issue was the dress, he had a hoodie to throw on whilst he cleaned himself up but it had been a struggle to get into and out of when he’d first tried it on as the zipper’s pull tab was tiny and impossible to grab without seeing it. It had taken all of ten minutes in trying to take it off the first time that he now understood Steph’s bitching that dress zippers should be on the side.

“If you’ve dropped the cool but mean persona you had on before I’ll help you.” Jason said, Tim glancing over his shoulder in shock, he hadn’t heard the door open and whilst he had barely spared a glance towards the other when he’d come off it had more been because Dick had been so quick to get to him that he hadn’t even had the chance and then his priorities had quickly shifted to getting the show done first and playing around later.

“I’ll be sweet and charming if you help.” He said, flashing a smile before turning his back to Jason, already sliding the pants on underneath the dress so that he didn’t end up too exposed in front of the other. “Sorry, about before, a certain someone may have talked at me and it may have ruffled a few more feathers than I thought.” Tim uttered, it definitely wasn’t entirely honest given it had definitely been a two-person conversation even if neither party could be swayed.

A sigh of relief escaped him at the sound of the zipper going down. “Don’t say sorry, you were right.” A small whistle escaped Tim, earning him a gentle push in the back. “You know what I think and that’s not going to change very easily but I didn’t think you’d be able to say something that got under my skin so easily.”

That was honest, something Tim could admit he didn’t quite pick up on, he’d sensed the slight jealousy in a shift in posture but even the words hadn’t made it seem like he was bothered, it just sounded like more of their loaded banter. “I didn’t think it would either, but if one comment and skate is making you question your resolve I’m disappointed.”

“I question that every day thank you very much.” He snapped, but Tim could hear the laughter in his voice, pulling the bag of wet wipes out of his bag as he tried to clean his face the best he could as he shook his head amused at the dramatics. “It’s just- no, not here. We can talk about this tonight, this seems like it will be a longer back and forth than the time we have right now.”

It didn’t have to be, Tim glad Jason couldn’t see his reaction to the statement, wanting to say plainly what was on his mind but knowing the conversation had already been shut down and adding fuel to it wasn’t going to help either one of them right this instant. But did they really need to have another talk to establish what they both already knew? It wasn’t going to change anything and only make life more awkward for the both of them.

 

* * *

 

**JPTTJD                         @PranceOn                             Now**

Beauty, grace, fully prepared to ruin your life the momenthe gets

bored with you #BruceWayneWouldKnow

 

**Unbroken Birds           @MelMonster            3 minutes ago**

Carmen rumours were true… I thought I’d be bored but I am back

on board baby.

 

**Skater Zoned              @SkaterZoned                        10 minutes ago**

Dick choreo on Tim is still the best combination in skating

**DWayneBeast            @GothamBoats                      7 minutes ago**

Right because stealing music from your competitors is a good thing

**Skater Zoned              @SkaterZoned                        6 minutes ago**

HAHBCEAIUVB it’s not that deep and it’s not like he’s competing

with it.

**DWayneBeast            @GothamBoats                      4 minutes ago**

You’re nothing but a Tim Drake stan despite the fact that he’s

clearly more problematic than anyone else in skating

**Skater Zoned              @SkaterZoned                        2 minutes ago**

Excuse you I am a Dick Grayson stan

 

**DWayneBeast            @GothamBoats                      14 minutes ago**

Gross… Tim consistently proves he’s a petty asshole who comes

after a minor rather than coming up with original ideas

 

**Wally West                 @WestSpeeds                        18 minutes ago**

I don’t think that dress is very aerodynamic also why no jumps?

**Barbara Gordon          @BabaGaga                           4 minutes ago**

That’s because it’s my ice dance dress and isn’t meant to be

aerodynamic for jumps dude

 

**Joker                           @MistaJSays                          23 minutes ago**

Carmen is great music if you want to throw yourself out the window

skating not so much #IJustThrewUpALittle

 

* * *

 

 

The silence was almost unbearable, Tim sitting on the hotel room’s desk whilst Jason sat on the desk, head down and staring at the floor whilst Tim stared directly at Jason, waiting a lifetime to hear what he already knew. He could predict exactly how this conversation was going to go and if Jason was going to sit there silently then they might as well get dinner.

Talking about it was only going to make things more awkward. Someone needed to say something though. “How many times do I have to say I respect and understand your stance on this?” He said softly, drumming his fingers on his knee, god even speaking about this was insanely uncomfortable.

“What did Steph say to you?” Direct, painfully so, likely searching for answers that he didn’t want to hear.

“The short version, that because it’s the off season there’s no reason that we should try if we have feelings for each other.” He had to say it casually, or else he’d end up embarrassing himself by getting emotional.

He could see the confusion in Jason’s face ask he looked up, their eyes meeting before the both of them looked away, well Tim just looked past Jason as the other turned his head away. “But who wants Damian or Vicki to be right, right?”

“That’s what I said.” He could hear the laughter that Jason was clearly trying to hide, if he didn’t know any better he would have thought the other was crying. “We can package it any other way but it’s not going to work as a summer fling. We both know that, and trust me it’s really easy to just act like everyone else is stupid.”

More laughter, definitely more obvious this time. “It’s easy to think that way with a brain like yours… I just-” He was cut off by a rap at the door, both of their heads snapping in that direction.

Tim was the first to move, sliding off the desk and standing. “How about we both pretend we’re fine with frustration, at least then we both know what we know.” He uttered giving Jason a shove before going to open the door, peering through the peephole to see the second worst possible person on the other side, flanked by an uncomfortable looking Dick. “What do you want?” Tim said stiffly as he opened the door, not giving them space to come inside, he wouldn’t hesitate to let Dick in, but Damian, well if he was going to get threatened it was better for unbiased witnesses to potentially see said threats.


End file.
